Exchange-traded product provider Source has appointed a five-strong team to service the UK financial advisory market, in response to growing demand for ETFs among advisers.
The new team comprises three new directors: Dominic Clabby, who was formerly development director at Axa Elevate; Damian Yeomans, formerly associate director at HSBC Global Asset Management; and Chris Norsworthy, formerly responsible for intermediary coverage at Margetts Fund Management.
Also newly hired are Ngozi Onyenemelu, now marketing associate for UK and Ireland, formerly senior client communications executive at Henderson Global Investors; and Antoine Boulet, a research analyst, who previously worked at Societe Generale on structured products distribution.
To mark its move into the intermediary space, Source commissioned research among 103 UK financial advisers last month, which found nearly one in five IFAs (18 per cent) have increased their clients’ exposure to ETFs over the last year, while and over a third (34 per cent) expect this to increase over the next 12 months.
Only 4 per cent expect this exposure to decrease, and nearly half (44 per cent) of those surveyed said they have increased their clients’ exposure to passive investments since the implementation of the Retail Distribution Review at the end of 2012.
David Lake, managing director of UK coverage for Source, commented that ETFs have largely been the preserve of institutional investors, but more recently they are being used far more widely.
“The advent of RDR has focused UK advisers’ attention on the benefits of this product class and we are delighted to offer them a team dedicated to their needs. We believe that UK financial advisers will represent an increasingly significant investor base for Source.”
Figures in May, from research and consultancy firm ETFGI, suggested global ETF assets could be set to surpass those going into hedge funds during the second quarter. Recent analysis found assets in the global ETF and ETP industry had reached US$2.92trn (£1.91trn) at the end of the first quarter.
In August, Legal and General stated it was looking at expansion into the ETF space, as so far it only offers a single exchange-traded fund via a joint venture with Source.
Since launch in April 2009, Source has amassed more than $19bn (£12.3bn) in assets under management and offers a range of just under 80 products with exposure to equities, commodities, fixed income and alternative assets.
peter.walker@ft.com
