Last week we launched, in collaboration with the research firm Investment Trends, the BetaShares/Investment Trends ETF Report 2013. This is the fourth year we’ve been involved with this effort which represents the leading comprehensive quantitative and qualitative research study of Australian ETF users available to the market, based on responses of 10,421 investors and 734 advisers on their experiences and usage of ETFs. For a full copy of the summary report, please click here. In this post we highlight some of the key findings of the report:
Gap remains in adviser influenced ETF investments
Mirroring the growth in usage by individual investors, adviser usage of ETFs grew from 28% to 33% of advisers – the highest level to date. However, while 33,000 new ETF investors joined the market in 2013, the percentage of investors who said their adviser played a role in this investment remained at 26%, the same as last year’s figure. This gap between self-directed and adviser influenced ETF investing means planners still have a considerable opportunity in front of them to get involved in their clients’ ETF investment decisions.
ETF growth not affecting other asset classes
The majority of ETF investments in 2013 came from new money being placed into the market, rather than being redirected from other asset classes. A full 64% of ETF investors made incremental investments to ETFs rather than reducing their exposure to other investments such as direct shares, term deposits.
Australian ETFs – the future
Over the course of 2013, 11 new products were launched on the exchange, and we believe that over the course of the next few years the ETF product range will continue evolving in the Australian market. From an investor numbers perspective, the ETF report forecasts the total number of ETF investors to range from 126,000-174,500 by end 2015.