BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM) is planning to launch 15 ETFs on its Irish platform by 2025, the first of which it hopes to unveil in May.
Speaking to ETF Stream, Lorraine Sereyjol-Garros, global head of development for ETFs and index funds at BNPP AM, said the asset manager received approval to launch the first ETF on its Irish Collective Asse Management Vehicle (ICAV) platform at the end of March, with the plan to expand the range over the next 18 months.
In January, ETF Stream revealed BNPP AM’s plans to domicile ETFs in Ireland with the French asset manager currently only housing ETFs in France and Luxembourg.
“The plan is to launch 15 ETFs on the Irish ICAV by 2025,” Sereyjol-Garros said.
“The idea is to address clients’ needs. We have demand for the Irish UCITS ETF from Switzerland, the Netherlands and the Nordics and we also wanted to develop in the UK market,” Sereyjol-Garros said.
She added the reason behind the move is because Irish ETFs have a tax advantage when offering exposure to US equities.
US equity ETFs domiciled in Ireland have a 15% withholding tax rate on dividends versus 30% for ETFs domiciled in Luxembourg and other European jurisdictions.
The French asset manager said it has investor demand from across Europe and added the move would also help it grow its ETF business in the UK.
A similar decision was taken by Amundi last May when it started domiciling segments of its ETF range in Ireland.
In March, BNPP AM launched two fixed income ESG ETFs, the BNP Paribas Easy Euro Aggregate Bond SRI Fossil Free UCITS ETF (BJLF) and the BNP Paribas Easy JPM ESG EMU Government Bond IG 1-3Y UCITS ETF (BJLH).
