FTSE Builds Unit for ETPs

The company’s goal is to expand its product and service offering, and build on strong local support for ETP and exchange-traded fund (ETF) clients globally.

The new service unit brings together dedicated research and relationship management resources, who will work closely with clients to develop ETP index solutions across a variety of asset classes and geographies.

“As one of the world’s largest index providers, we are determined to significantly increase our share of the global ETP benchmark market,” says Mark Makepeace, chief executive, FTSE Group. “The creation of FTSE’s new dedicated ETP service unit is the latest step in a strategy designed to deliver the best possible index and service solutions to our clients globally.”

The unit will be led by Jonathan Horton, president, FTSE North America. Supporting Horton will be New York-based Marc De Luise, director of ETP product solutions, and Kristen Mierzwa, director of ETP relationships, North America. London-based Sudir Raju, assumes the role of managing director, ETP relationships EMEA.

FTSE has seen its ETF-related assets under management (AUM) grow fivefold over the past three years, driven by the success of products such as iShares’ FTSE China A50 Fund ETFs, Vanguard’s All-World ex US Fund, and global real estate ETFs based on the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Index.

Earlier this month, Vanguard announced that it would switch six international equity ETFs to FTSE benchmarks, replacing MSCI. The switch includes Vanguard’s Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund and its associated ETF, the world’s largest emerging markets ETF. With the transition, some $124 billion in ETF assets are now indexed to FTSE benchmarks.

Global ETP assets have grown significantly in the last decade. Last year, exchange-traded products attracted net inflows of $163 billion, significantly outpacing the $58.58 billion in net new money going into traditional mutual funds.

FTSE believes that this growth will only accelerate as investors turn to ETPs in their search for low-cost, transparent diversification solutions. The steady proliferation of ETPs across alternative asset classes such as commodities and currencies underlines this trend, as does the growing number of alternative options to traditional cap-weighted indices.

FTSE, a provider of global index and analytical solutions, is an independent company owned by the London Stock Exchange Group and the world’s third-largest equity ETF index provider.