[12/05/23] ETF Players Poach Top Executives

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WEEKLY ROUNDUP OF ETF FILINGS, LAUNCHES & CLOSURES

As we approach the new year, ETF issuers are hiring top executives as they aim to keep pace with the industry’s rapid growth.

Most notably, State Street tapped Invesco’s Anna Paglia to lead their ETF business last week. In the past four years, Paglia oversaw the launch of 104 new products at Invesco, and helped build the firm’s partnership with crypto-focused firm Galaxy. She’ll have her work cut out for her at State Street as the firm lost $1 billion in ETF assets in the third quarter of 2023.

Other notable people moves in the past week include Grayscale hiring another Invesco veteran, John Hoffman, and MSCI recruiting Jana Haines from ARK Invest, where she was chief strategy officer.

A short lived but gutsy fund aimed at meme-loving retail investors, the Roundhill MEME ETF (MEME), will liquidate in December. Despite pandemic meme stock excitement, the fund was down about 55% since its launch and only brought in about $2.6 million in investor cash.

At least one big asset manager entered the ETF space this past week. Macquarie Asset Management, the Australia-based financial services firm, launched its first three U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds Wednesday, Nov. 29.

By Lucy Brewster

Below is a roundup of the key developments in the ETF industry during the week ending Dec. 1, 2023:  

MEME ETF Shutters as Thematic Funds Lose Luster The fund from Roundhill Investments brought in only $2.6 million under management since its launch in December 2021.

Macquarie Introduces Its First U.S. ETFs The launch follows three new active funds in Australia.

Grayscale Grabs Invesco Veteran Amid ETF Push John Hoffman arrives as deadline to convert GBTC into spot bitcoin ETF approaches.

Spot Bitcoin ETF Hopes Lifted By SEC Move Analysts say SEC opening comment period on Franklin Templeton application is positive sign.

Larger ETFs Are Not Always More Liquid Secondary market volumes and AUM are not the best liquidity indicators for UCITS ETFs.

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SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY)

The fund seeks to track a market-cap-weighted portfolio that provides total market exposure to the US equity space.

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PODCAST

The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) is on a roll. Up 47% this year, the Qs, as the fund is colloquially called, is massively outperforming the 20% gain for the S&P 500. Made up of America’s largest and innovative companies, it seems like nothing can stop the ascent of this $220 billion ETF.

In this episode of Exchange Traded Fridays, Ryan McCormack, senior factor and core equity ETF strategist at Invesco, and Bloomberg senior analyst Eric Balchunas, sit down with etf.com senior analyst Sumit Roy and etf.com wealth management editor Jeff Benjamin to discuss the history of QQQ and its unusual non-profit structure. Listen Now

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VIDEO

Active funds have taken the ETF world by storm. Despite having only 6% of assets, active exchange-traded funds have accounted for nearly a quarter of all inflows this year. What’s causing this massive growth? In this episode of Talk ETFs, Jeff Bowman sits down with etf.com senior analyst Sumit Roy to answer this question and more. Watch Now

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