Morgan Stanley has shuttered its six European smart beta ETFs on the FundLogic platform after a decline in assets, leaving it with no products in Europe.
The closures were driven by institutional investors pulling funds due to poor performance and revenue generation.
In the US, Morgan Stanley’s ETF business remains active with $2.5bn in assets across Calvert, Eaton Vance, and Parametric.
While plans to expand Calvert ETFs into Europe remain on hold, Debbie Fuhr, managing partner and founder of ETFGI, said that the ETF closures lay in its lack of strategy surrounding distribution, however believes the firm could launch more products if it improves its US positioning.
Amundi launches low-fee US ETFs
Amundi expanded its equity ETF offerings with the launch of two new funds, the Amundi MSCI USA UCITS ETF (WEBH) and the Amundi MSCI World EX USA UCITS ETF (WEXE).
The US-focused WEBH has a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.03%, making it one of Europe’s cheapest US equity ETFs.
WEXE, with a TER of 0.15%, offers exposure to developed markets outside the US, tracking 828 large and mid-cap companies and is the joint cheapest in Europe, matching the fee of the Xtrackers MSCI World ex USA UCITS ETF (EXUS).
This week also saw WisdomTree launch the world’s first European natural gas ETC.
Citi’s Miller moves to Chicago Trading Company
More senior reshuffles came this week when Chicago Trading Company (CTC) hired Ben Miller, formerly of Citi, as head of institutional ETF sales for EMEA.
Miller - who joined earlier this month – will support CTC's expansion of its ETF market-making business, offering alternative liquidity solutions to institutional investors.
Franklin Templeton also appointed Vincenzo Sagone to lead ETF distribution in Italy, based in Milan. Sagone, previously head of ETF, Indexing, and Smart Beta at Amundi. The hire strengthens Franklin Templeton’s ETF business in Italy, following other recent appointments in the region.
