Robeco has unveiled its hotly anticipated four-strong range of active ETFs after ETF Stream revealed five of its products were approved by the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) earlier this month.
The ETFs are listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and will be listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in the “coming months.”
The four ETFs are:
ETF name | Total expense ratio (TER) |
Robeco 3D Global Equity UCITS ETF (3DGL) | 0.25% |
Robeco 3D US Equity UCITS ETF (3DUS) | 0.20% |
Robeco 3D European Equity UCITS ETF (3D3D) | 0.25% |
Robeco Dynamic Theme Machine UCITS ETF (RDYN) | 0.55% |
The launch marks the latest example of established asset managers entering the ETF market, following US fixed income manager Performance Trust entering the market earlier this month.
The ‘3D’ equity strategies are enhanced index products that focus on balancing risk, return, and sustainability, which Nick King (pictured), head of ETFs at Robeco, told ETF Stream he believes is a compelling alternative to traditional passive index tracking products.
It does this by focusing on the best possible ‘trade offs’ between these three elements using an optimisation process.
“We believe that sustainability can be a key driver of long-term value and resilience,” King added.”
King said the firm differentiates their sustainability approach from others in the market by integrating risk, return, and sustainability in a single, ‘optimised’ process, unlike competitors that treat these three components separately.
Meanwhile, RDYN differentiates itself by identifying investment themes early, using advanced natural language processing to spot emerging trends across data sets, actively monitoring and rotating out of themes as they mature.
A move away from mutual funds?
The Dutch asset manager has seen two consecutive years of outflows from its mutual fund business while making multiple senior appointments ahead of its ETF entry, including King last September and Dorcas Phillips as head of ETF capital markets last month.
On the hires signalling a potential shift away from its mutual fund business, King noted, “I would not say this is necessarily a shift, but it is a compliment to the existing routes that we offer our products to clients.”
“Offering ETFs as well just allows us to give more choice to our clients.”
What comes next?
King told ETF Stream Robeco will not be offering any purely passive products.
“The passive market is extremely competitive and already well-served by existing products. It is important for us to concentrate on areas where we can truly add value, and that's in the active space."
King said moving into 2025, active fixed income ETFs will be the focus.
“We want to be a multi asset platform, so fixed income is going to be the next area of focus moving into 2025.”
“We will also be looking at other equity launches over the course of the year as well, but our primary emphasis will be on fixed income products.”
