16:50 End of day
Tom Eckett, of ETF Stream, concludes the day of talks, with networking and drinks to follow.
16:47 Closing Remarks
68% of attendees put the biggest challenge facing the ETF industry as consolidated tape.
Dwyer: It has the potential to be very impactful. It'll be a while.
SFDR came in at 30%, CSDR just 4%.
Dwyer: There are a number of regulatory touchpoints which affect ETFs, and how these key elements of the structure operate. In terms of non-ESMA, we continue to be of the view that the ETF guidelines need to be updated.
16:37 Closing Remarks
Dwyer on SFDR, EU taxonomy: "We fully understand the data-related challenges, of an ETF as 6,8,9. We also need to ensure there is appropriate disclosure for investors. We're not in a position to address this really it lies with European authorities."
Dwyer: Our primary objective is an effective arbitrage system. IOSCO engagement has provided a meaningful insight to us in this in this context and will inform our future approach.
16:37 Closing Remarks
Dwyer: "The Covid period represented a solid testing of ETFs. They did demonstrate resilience, but not without support from regulatory authorities, such as the Bank of International Settlements. That kind of work is nearing its end. The CBI engaged with participants to identify ETF related pinch points, and we saw a marked increase in failed trades. Yet on balance, there was resilience in the operations of ETFs."
16:36 Closing Remarks
Dwyer: "ETFs should not be overly complex. This is likely to have challenges to the arbitrage mechansism, and in the investor understanding perspective."
16:35 Closing Remarks
Dwyer: "There is a balance to be struck between increased retail participation without inhibiting the next product or strategy. Innovation is always welcome but the risk of investor detriment must be damaged. This is in the regulatory DNA."
16:32 Closing Remarks
Dwyer: "The concern is to look at product rules, do they support the needs of those liquidity providers, and in relation to the product itself. Need to ensure there is sufficient confidence in that liquidity provision. Needs to be capable of withstanding stress events"
16:31 Closing Remarks
Dwyer: From our a regulatory perspective, we need to ensure that ETF structure is robust. Core to us is trader prices are relatable to NAV.
16:30 Closing Remarks
Dwyer: Pre-trade consolidation tape 'hopefully at end of decade.' Fundamental questions remain regarding quality of data.
16:28 Closing Remarks
Dwyer: "In only truly exceptional circumstances should there be differentiated access for investors. We common support the common approach to trading for ETFs."
16:25 Closing Remarks
ETF Update from Central Bank of Ireland
Catherine Dwyer, Senior Policy Adviser, Central Bank of Ireland
16:22 Germany Panel
Miller: I expected the UK to do more to develop faster. This isn't to say the UK isn't in a good place right now.
16:19 Germany Panel
Miller: "Crypto we see as a tool to engage people with." McManus: "It is not part of our offering. Focus on things you understand."
16:16 Germany Panel
McManus: "The reality is wealth management is a partnership."
16:12 Germany Panel
Miller: Italy has a high affinity for ETF products, following in footsteps of Germany. McManus also sees massive opportunity in Southern Europe, but needs targeting for mass affluent populations with digital engagement.
16:07 Germany Panel
Miller: "Low interest rates, GameStop, crypto and the pandemic all increased interest in the pandemic. More than 50% of our clients will have a weekly payment into an ETF, averaging £500 a month."
16:01 Germany Panel
McManus: "There's an assumption that every person in society wants to engage in investment management. People really require solutions to meet their goals, and people have thought very differently in the post-Covid period."
16:00 Germany Panel
McManus: "ETFs aren't actually that easy to understand, especially for an everyday retail investor."
15:56 Germany Panel
Miller: We pulled out of the UK at the beginning of last year, we were able to accelerate mcuh more quickly in Germany.
15:52 Germany Panel
Miller: "When you get to the more nuanced ETFs that's where there's potentially more opportunity with more margin and higher fees."
15:45 Germany Panel
Lessons from Germany: The rise of retail
An ETF revolution has taken place in Germany over the past two years. BlackRock has now forecasted there will be 20 million people making monthly contributions to ETF savings plans by 2026, a vast increase in a market that now has the biggest ETF share in Europe.
What are some of the key lessons market participants can take away from this growth story and how are other countries in Europe reacting?
Speakers:
Simon Miller, head of broker international at Scalable Capital
James McManus, CIO at Nutmeg
Theo Andrew, a senior reporter at ETF Stream
15:07 European ETF Panel
Shastry: RFQs was created to decrease errors. There is a place for these systems, but not the most efficient way for smaller transactions.
15:02 European ETF Panel
Blanc tells of a guest at the Ecosystem conference who saw an ad on primetime French national television for a roboadvisor on ETF solutions. For Blanc, this is something that you wouldn't have seen five years ago.
14:59 European ETF Panel
Chauhan: "The responsibility of us as an ecosystem is to ask have we democratised the access of liquidity in a fair and transparent way."
14:52 European ETF Panel
Shastry: "We were able to ramp up increase in trades during Covid thanks to advanced technology."
14:48 European ETF Panel
Shastry: ETFs were used to help the underlying fixed income market during the Covid crisis. ETFs used in "a lot more sophisticated way than buy and hold."
14:45 European ETF Panel
Panel Discussion: The European ETF market remains fragmented across trading venues with multilateral trading facilities, exchanges and systematic internalisers, to name a few, all looking to offer best execution opportunities to buy-side houses. This panel will explore how the ETF market is developing from both an innovation and technological perspective.
Speakers:
Gunjan Chauhan, Senior Managing Director at State Street Global Advisors, Global Head of Capital Markets and Strategic Partners for the SPDR ETF Business
Gregoire Blanc is the Head of Capital Markets & Liquidity at Amundi
Keshava Shastry, managing director and head of capital market at DWS
Michael O'Riordan, founding partner, Blackwater Search & Advisory
14:39 Hotseat
Is the crypto pricing market still stuck in the dark ages? Thurston: "Yes, very much so."
14:38 Hotseat
Thurston on Trident: "A triparty model utilising structures that were already in the industry."
14:35 Hotseat
Thurston: The crypto providers were 'low hanging fruit' with the most issues and least infrastructure in place.
14:31 Hotseat
Thurston: "We are now beginning to see more and more structure being brought into the crypto industry." States that 21Shares should stop releasing products so quickly to better have a chance of grasping opportunities in crypto.
14:30 Hotseat
Next up is 'In the hot seat: COSMOS and Trident: Bringing institutional assets to crypto', a conversation between Bernie Thurston, CEO at Ultumus, and Tom Eckett, of ETF Stream.
14:22 Keynote
Mellor on Globalisation vs Localistion: There is a question whether localistion will retake globalisation, a trend which had benefitted London. Also remarks that the UK is a top 5 fintech location.
14:19 Keynote
Mellor: "People need to trade in and through the City for it to remain competitive."
14:17 Keynote
Mellor: In the last 18 months, the UK has decided it can't wait for the EU. There have been 30 consultations in the last year on the rules and regulations for the City. Queen's Speech contained mention of reform of Solvency II.
14:13 Keynote
"Equivalence is a ship that has sailed." You are going to get divergence, says Mellor, as UK focuses on being a global financial centre rather than complete alignment with EU. The EU is also changing stance on what equivalence means.
14:10 Keynote
Mellor: A gap between Financial Services MoU, with UK having signed but EU yet to do so until further issues resolved. One temporary legislation in place in relation to clearing banks. According to EY, 7,500 jobs have moved from UK to EU as a result of Brexit.
14:09 Keynote
Mellor: "London's volumes of activity are growing, but still becoming a smaller piece of the pie."
14:08 Keynote
Mellor: Across the EU, you have a fragmented response to financial services.
14:05 Keynote
Mellor: In 2018 London lost its place as the Number 1 global financial centre to New York, and New York has furthered its lead since.
14:00 Keynote
We are back and hearing from Robert Mellor, partner and UK Alternatives Markets Leader at PwC on London as a future financial leader.
12:50 Settlement Discipline
Stewart: "I'm not yet at liberty to disclose who have paid penalty fees, but the people we are seeing who are the usual suspects." On numbers of fines, Stewart demurs, and notes there is still fine tuning going on internally in own Clearstream systems.
"It's a moving picture, which is why we're not disclosing numbers yet."
"I remain optimistic and bullish it is going to be for the greater good."
12:45 Settlement Discipline
Stewart: "Our mission in life is to be the infrastructure through which transactions are settled." On CSDR: "When things are ironed out things will operate smoother and more cheaply." Penalty fees '"not in our interest." and Clearstream desire to reach "Mutually beneficial outcome quicker."
12:42 Settlement Discipline
Stewart: "For many in the market CSDR is still a point of pain, leading to much more partial settlement, and a cost consequence. A next step is people need to better understand the regulation."
12:35 Settlement Discipline
Stewart: "That international element is being caught up in CSDs and being caught up in resulting timeliness issues, late settlement effectively."
12:35 Settlement Discipline
Stewart: "There has been an international success of the ETF model in Europe."
12:34 Settlement Discipline
Andrew: CSDR hot potato in industry, Stewart starts with overview. Stewart notes it is a European regulation for CSDs, and is a massive regulation as CSDs are very large structures. CSDs are all about settlement, and ensuring the settlement process is carried out in a timely manner.
12:30 Settlement discipline
Next up is 'Settlement discipline for ETFs: Challenges and opportunities', a discussion between Allan Stewart, VP for ETF sales and relationship Management at Clearstream, and Theo Andrew, a senior reporter at ETF Stream.
12:25 The evolution of ETF data
Thurston: "We have all these three letter acronyms in the ETF industry, and there is no consistency."
12:20 The evolution of ETF data
Thurston: "What we've seen with ESG is a very good structure poorly implemented, I don't think we're seeing the data for it. Differentiating between the E,S and G would have made more sense." Hopes that EU Taxonomy and UN SDGs will provide more stability in the sector.
12:17 The evolution of ETF data
Thurston: "We have seen volatility from Russian sanctions, and taking requests to remove things from benchmarks. We have created a classification system to deal with these products."
12:12 The evolution of ETF data
Thurston: "Thank god for Amazon Web Services and its S3 buckets for storing data, and allowing firms to keep it on a historical basis as well."
12:05 The evolution of ETF data
Bernie Thurston, CEO at Ultumus, speaks to Jamie Gordon, reporter at ETF Stream, on the evolution of ETF data.
12:05 ETF Servicing
Fitzpatrick: "Investors are much more comfortable buying ETFs in the US. It's more understandable."
12:03 ETF Servicing
Fitzpatrick: "To maintain liquidity and tight spreads there needs to be standardisation from start to finish."
11:59 ETF Servicing
Fitzpatrick: "I speak to digital issuers, the settlement process is shocking. Moving coins from one wallet to another is taking days."
11:55 ETF Servicing
Fitzpatrick: "How can you get a more efficient market? We have to work together."
11:53 ETF Servicing
Fitzpatrick: "In Europe we need to work together. We are not trying to build out Fund Connect just for State Street but for the industry."
11:45 ETF Servicing
ETF servicing: Technological innovation in Europe
Ciarán Fitzpatrick, managing director and head of ETF servicing Europe, State Street, speaks to Theo Andrew, a senior reporter at ETF Stream
This Live Feed will be following Stream B for the next three sessions.
11:37 Panel on Regulation
O'Hara on crypto ETFS: "It's a coming thing but I don't think it's there for the fully regulated space just yet."
11:33 Panel on Regulation
Moran on CSDR: "Coming up to February, we had to look at working on ourselves in the industry, but there was just no real interaction with regulators."
11:28 Panel on regulation
Fitzpatrick: "The concept of CSDR is a really good one." However, not currently feedback from investors that they are seeing an impact.
11:21 Panel on regulation
O'Leary on SFDR: "What started as a disclosure regulation has morphed into something else." Article 8 described as a "very, very broad church." Challenge for Level 2 implementation is unreliable data. Also, MiFID II will require a 'root and branch review' of policies and processes
11:16 Panel on regulation
O'Leary: The IOSCO paper is an example of the regulators working together. Fitzpatrick in agreement with O'Leary and Moran on this.
11:13 Panel on regulation
Moran: "We are used to regulation proposals turning up with not enough time and thought given."
11:10 Panel on regulation
Cupelli: "We're pleased to see the resilience of the ETF wrapper especially considering March 2020 events."
11:05 Panel on regulation
Panel on Regulation: Key developments in the European ETF market
CSDR, SFDR and MiFID III are just three examples of regulation that could have a major impact on the ETF market in Europe. There have been some crucial developments over the last few years but how are regulators responding to the concerns highlighted by the industry around these and other areas?
Speakers:
Ciarán Fitzpatrick, managing director and head of ETF servicing Europe, State Street
Michelle Moran, partner, K&L Gates
Ciara O'Leary, partner, Dechert
Federico Cupelli, deputy director for regulatory policy
10:40 Fireside Chat
Wan: "Bitcoin and its dip is highly correlated with the stock market, while Terra is a crypto specific event."
10:37 Fireside Chat
Wan refuses to point fingers at who caused the crash, notes that you can't follow activity on the decentralised exchange.
10:34 Fireside Chat
Andrew: "What was unique about this crash was the sheer scale of it."
10:30 Fireside Chat
Tom Wan, research analyst at 21Shares, speaks to Theo Andrew, senior reporter at ETF Stream, on crypto and the crash in Terra.
10:27 Hot Seat
Cost to launch an ETF? Dang-Vu: "The cost is difficult to give an amount, you have to pay all the minimums, then hire someone who is aware of the space. Speaking to clients it is a marketing investment."
10:20 Hot Seat
Mohr: "As a huge fan of ETFs I'm really pleased to see how retailers have adapted ETFs in my home country of Germany."
10:14 Hot Seat
Eckett asks on what's the solution to fragmentation? Dang-Vu talks of cross border settlements, Mohr notes that it will stay for the next decade at least.
10:05 Hot Seat: Entering the European ETF market
Time for a hotseat interview with Tom Eckett, of ETF Stream, Frank Mohr, managing director, global head of ETF sales trading, and Veronique Dang-Vu, product engineer at Soc Gen Securities Services.
10:05 Future developments in the European ETF industry
Gordon with a final question on crypto, Venkatramanan less interested in its use as a currency than the broader implications of the underlying blockchain technology. Pybus largely in agreement.
09:55 Future developments in the European ETF industry
De Tapia: "For the last two years, three years that HSBC has accelerated progress, 90% of our ETFs have been dedicated ESG products." She also distances herself from comments made by HSBC AM global head of responsible investing Stuart Kirk last week, in which he made derogatory comments on climate action such as: "At a big bank like ours, average loan length is six years. What happens to the planet in year seven is actually irrelevant to our loan book. For coal, what happens in year seven is actually irrelevant."
09:50 Future developments in the European ETF industry
Pybus: "You need to put the client first, ask what's the advantage of the wrapper."
09:42 Future developments in the European ETF industry
Venkatramanan: "In the institutional space, you need more customization." Gordon also points out the rates at which Germany waking up to the ETF industry, for which Pybus believes is in part due to the disruption of digital players in the market and turning savers into investors. One in four Germans to have an ETF savings plan by 2026.
09:40 Future developments in the European ETF industry
Venkatramanan on challenges to innovation in the ETF space: "Peoplearestartingtohearthingsaboutexposuresandthingslikethatthat'sfairlyuntouched,particularlyinEuropeandfixedincomeaswell."
09:36 Future developments in the European ETF industry
De Tapia: "Three years ago, our new CEO decided that ETS were going to be one of the focus of the company. It was very challenging, but we put the right people in the right place, the right resources and we started very glad to see the fantastic growth."
09:30 Future developments in the European ETF industry
The European ETF market posted a record year in 2021 as investors across the board increase their allocations to ETFs. With inflows surging at a rapid rate, it is crucial ETF issuers stay on top of the latest trends in the market and capture new entrants turning to the ETF wrapper. What are the key trends to look for over the next five years and how are issuers ensuring they remain differentiated from their competition?
Speakers:
Brett Pybus leads the iShares EMEA Investment Strategy, Markets Coverage and Equity ETF Product Strategy teams.
Olga de Tapia is Global Head of ETF & Indexing Sales within HSBC Global Asset Management
Aanand Venkatramanan works at LGIM within the Exchange Traded Funds team that was acquired from ETF Securities in March 2018
Jamie Gordon, reporter at ETF Stream
09:27 Opening keynote
Shastry: "We need regulatory assistance to bring in consolidated tape." Of who would run CT, believes it should begin with a single provider at least initially. While Lueder seemed to lack confidence in an ETF CT anytime soon, Shastry still holds hope it will be more imminent.
09:24 Opening keynote
Shastry: 10-20% of the US ETF market is global clients outside the US, that's a trillion dollars that could potentially be seen in Europe.
09:22 Opening keynote
Shastry on fragmentation: "In Europe, we have more than 600 venues for trading, while in the US there are less than 50."
09:19 Opening keynote
Keshava Shastry, managing director and head of capital market at DWS, responds.
09:16 Opening keynote
Lueder: "The European ETF market is very much an institutional market."
09:15 Opening keynote
Lueder: "If you have a particular index, you can't replicate this index, certainly not physically because the underlying is not liquid enough, and you put too much spread."
09:10 Opening keynote
Lueder: "The real issue in Europe is that there isn't enough ETFs on offer (compared to the US)"
09:05 Opening keynote
Tom Eckett speaks to Tilman Lueder, head of securities at the European Commission.
08:55 Breakfast workshop
Herculano notes the importance of role models for women in finance: "When you start young you have a lot of energy and you may not go with the flow. You may not think so much about strategically where you want to go into your career, what are the things that are really important to you? And I think we women tend to be a little more shy in terms of I deserve this promotion."
08:50 Breakfast workshop
Fuhr: "At a US event there was a lady joining ETF industry, she was a quant didn't know anything about ETFs. She saidI really would like to learn and someone said, Well, maybe we should develop a group so that we can help educate people. And so the ideawas, let's connect, support and inspire women and diversity in the industry. It's really about education, it's about professional development, it's about getting people to come into the industry, have a good career, grow your career and have a good time because the goal is really to help all of us for the industry."
08:40 Breakfast workshop
Van Maasdijk: "We are still not seeing women in top positions."
08:30 Breakfast workshop
The ETF industry has been at the forefront of financial services in tackling gender equality issues, largely thanks to organisations such as Women in ETFs, however, there is still a long way to go. What can the ETF industry do more to tackle diversity issues?
Speakers:
Gabriela Herculano, CEO and co-founder iClima Earth
Diana van Maasdijk, Co-Founder & CEO of Equileap
Deborah Fuhr, owner, managing partner and founder of ETFGI
DAY 2
17:55 Closing Remarks
Tom Eckett, editor at ETF Stream, closes off the day. The live stream will return at 8.30am tomorrow for Day 2.
17:49 Closing Keynote
Shiller: "We are on the cusp of an AI Revolution." Casts doubts on long future of cryptocurrency, though wishes he had invested in it when he first heard of it.
17:44 Closing Keynote
Shiller: A stock like Blackberry will show you that CAPE ratio is not always the same as investment quality.
17:39 Closing Keynote
Shiller: "Ukraine and the threat of nuclear war is a huge shock to our system. In 1949, the nuclear scare led to a tendency to move to the suburbs. We are not that afraid just yet."
17:35 Closing Keynote
Shiller: "There is a narrative that wishful thinking has misled us."
17:32 Closing Keynote
Shiller: "We are moving away from an era of 'silent inflation'."
17:31 Closing Keynote
It's time to hear from Professor Robert Shiller.
17:29 Fireside Chat
Robertson: "Wealthy countries don't see regime change."
17:23 Fireside Chat
Robertson identifies Bangladesh and Vietnam as countries on an upward economic trend. Also observes a critical trend between amount of adult literacy and opportunity for industrialisation in a country.
17:20 Fireside Chat
Stevenson asks if investors are missing a trick with Africa. Robertson states yes, but notes that China added $2 trillion in a year, which is equivalent to all of Africa itself.
17:15 Fireside Chat
Robertson recommends single country exposure, or even whole region such as Latin America.
17:10 Fireside Chat
Stevenson asks if the concept of EM is redundant, with China and Taiwan making up 65%. Robertson agrees EM is currently problematic. On debt side still commodity exporters, Robertson says, on equity side the opposite. Also does Qatar and India really belong in same grouping?
17:05 Fireside Chat
Fireside chat: Is it time to rethink emerging markets? With David Stevenson, columnist at the Financial Times, and Charlie Robertson, Global Chief Economist at Renaissance Capital.
16:55 Panel: ESG ETFs
On exclusions Shing makes the case for nuclear energy as 'the least worse route." Morel in agreement, also points out the need for transition from current situation and its inherent geopolitical risk.
16:48 Panel: ESG ETFs
Gordon asks what kind of what areas of product innovation would you like to see. Shing points to green bonds having room for development, and also that BNP ETF products are going through SFDR classification.
16:42 Panel: ESG ETFs
Shing: "Everything is supposed to be a factor, it's ridiculous. Some people seem to put skirt length in summer as impacting the stock market. So much of these correlations do not stand to scrutiny, and I do not think ESG can stand to this either."
16:37 Panel: ESG ETFs
Denoiseux: "We can provide value with ESG." Amundi/Lyxor has 300 billion in passive ETFs.
16:30 Panel: ESG ETFs
Portfolio construction can be a challenge when building a multi-asset ESG offering. ESG ETFs have a natural bias towards quality and low volatility stocks, for example, while the sovereign bond question does not look like being solved anytime soon. This panel will explore the ESG ETF landscape in Europe, where further product development is needed and how to ensure your portfolio achieves the right outcome for clients.
Panel members:
Vincent Denoiseux, head of ETF research and solutions, Lyxor ETF at Amundi
Veronique Morel, a Chartered Wealth Manager and branch principal at Raymond James
Edmund Shing, global chief investment officer at BNP Paribas Wealth Management
Jamie Gordon, reporter at ETF Stream
16:23 ETF Case Study
Weyerer: "Structural drivers for risk and return should be taken into account." Gives example of concerns over current tensions in Taiwan.
16:20 ETF Case Study
Weyerer argues that a collective EM portfolio does not effectively diversify a DM portfolio anymore, and individual country profiles should be looked at more closely.
16:15 ETF Case Study
Weyerer: A country like Brazil has a correlation which is on par roughly with what you would get from oil. it's a completely different asset class, but you get the same diversification benefit from the export.
16:12 ETF Case Study
Weyerer: Emerging markets make up 50% of growth projected for the next five years.
16:05 ETF Case Study
Next up is an ETF case study in disaggregating emerging markets: From China to Brazil, hosted by Marcus Weyerer, senior ETF Investment Strategist at Franklin Templeton.
16:03 In the hot seat: Active ETFs: Set for take-off
Malcolm compares semi-transparent ETFs in the US to Europe's policy of daily disclosure. He still sees advantage to European position and isn't overly concerned about risk of arbitrage.
15:59 In the hot seat: Active ETFs: Set for take-off
Malcolm: "ETFs are an incredibly efficient operation for us to run [at JP Morgan]".
15:55 In the hot seat: Active ETFs: Set for take-off
Malcolm: China is an incredibly inefficient market, and we [at JP Morgan] have launched an ETF targeting the nation to take advantages of these inefficiencies.
15:52 In the hot seat: Active ETFs: Set for take-off
Malcolm: "A key benefit of an ETF is transparency. By regulation in Europe, you have to disclose your holdings on a daily basis for an ETF, and that's the same for an active as an investor."
15:49 In the hot seat: Active ETFs: Set for take-off
Malcolm: "US tends to be five or six years ahead of Europe in the ETF market."
15:45In the hot seat: Active ETFs: Set for take-off
We return with a discussion between Edward Malcolm, executive director, UK Head of ETF Distribution at JP Morgan Asset Management, and Tom Eckett, editor at ETF Stream on the potential within active ETFs.
ETF Ecosystem Unwrapped 2022 has paused for a break. This live feed will cover Stream 'A' of events upon return.
15:15 Fireside chat: ‘Passive attack’: The future of ETFs
Wigglesworth: "Democratising subpar, expensive investment strategies in the guise of ETFs I think is dangerous, and something I'm worried about."
15:09 Fireside chat: ‘Passive attack’: The future of ETFs
Wigglesworth observes in finance a habit of taking a positive innovation and doing it to death, and wonders if in the ETF space there is currently 'crap out the door' rather than genuinely beneficial new developments.
15:03 Fireside chat: ‘Passive attack’: The future of ETFs
Wigglesworth on whether BlackRock is too big in the ETF space: "Yes, is the short answer." Also points out BlackRock 'won' due to better deals rather than blind luck.
14:59 Fireside chat: ‘Passive attack’: The future of ETFs
Wigglesworth: "The ETF is a powerful and flexible variable to do all sorts of interesting stuff, and it might actually be a superior investment form for especially illiquid asset classes."
14:55 Fireside chat: ‘Passive attack’: The future of ETFs
Wigglesworth: "I see ETFs as a new technology, that has transcended its roots and gone onto to conquer the financial world."
14:50 Fireside chat: ‘Passive attack’: The future of ETFs
This discussion of ‘Passive attack’ and the future of ETFs is being held between Robin Wigglesworth, the FT’s global finance correspondent, and Tom Eckett, editor at ETF Stream.
14:46 Panel: Myths and Risks of ETF Investing
Psarofagis questions Bauer on the myth that all ETFs are cheap. She says: "They are not always cheap, and you still have that pressure to put a portfolio together."
14:43 Panel: Myths and Risks of ETF Investing
Sriharan: ETF ESG disclosure is "coming for everyone." Industry needs to find a way to improve reporting on this.
14:41 Panel: Myths and Risks of ETF Investing
Sriharan observes that people's use of passive has changed over time, being used more within an active bucket, blending with sector ETFs for example.
14:36 Panel: Myths and Risks of ETF Investing
Psarofagis: "Anyone who thinks that indexing is synonymous with passive should read through a methodology document and see how much is actually in there and how many inputs and active decisions go into it."
14:33 Panel: Myths and Risks of ETF Investing
Rozemuller: "If you really believe in an investment idea, you have to give it three to five years time, from issuer and investor perspective."
14:31 Panel: Myths and Risks of ETF Investing
Sriharan: "How much are you on the hook for if you're the last person standing in an ETF?" Rozemuller notes you could still be hit for costs.
14:25 Panel: Myths and Risks of ETF Investing
Bauer: "We do this so called cluster analysis. In the end, you can see that some of the ETFs, for example, on the global equities, they actually cluster quite closely together and you see that you don't get that much diversification from it."
14:20 Panel: Myths and Risks of ETF Investing
Panel Discussion: The ETF market in Europe has exploded over the past decade with issuers offering investors exposure to more esoteric parts of the market. With the huge arsenal of strategies available to investors, understanding how each ETF fits within a portfolio is more important than ever. This panel will explore some of the misunderstandings when it comes to ETFs as well as the key factors to consider when selecting ETFs.
Participants:
Martijn Rozemuller, Head of Europe, VanEck
Jordan Sriharan, Fund Manager, Canada Life Asset Management
Irene Bauer, CIO Algo-Chain
Athanasios Psarofagis, ETF Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
14:17 Opening Keynote
Llinas comments that exclusion is a valid ESG strategy, but so is being "at the table" and engaging with controversial firms, echoing a long standing debate in sustainable investment.
14:14 Opening Keynote
Summary comment from Llinas on if passive is too big: "Absolutely not". When passive reaches its limit, active will respond by reducing fees, for instance. There is however concern of concentration, of 'too few houses."
14:12 Opening Keynote
Llinas: We have to continue to innovate, and innovation is often coming through passive before reaching active.
14:09 Opening Keynote
Llinas on the industry's sustainability commitments: "It's not only about the capacity to vote, its about our own capacity to propose new investments."
14:03 Opening Keynote
Llinas: "I ask myself has this industry become too big?" Observes that this is an industry that keeps on growing, and too big to be ignored
14:00 Opening Keynote
It's time for the keynote address, as Arnaud Llinas, Head of ETF, Indexing and Smart Beta Business Line at Amundi, discusses whether has passive investing got too big?
13:54 Lunch Workshop
Stevenson asks of current bear market, Klement believes currently closer to bottom of cycle to top, but next cycle to happen later this year or early next
13:50 Lunch Workshop
Klement: "No matter what the Bank of England do at this point in time, they can't stay there with their interest rates." Talk of UK needing to be next Japan regarding historic low interest, notes BoE predictions above private predictions for interest
13:48 Lunch Workshop
Klement: Bonds are down, stocks are down, property is OK for now
13:46 Lunch Workshop
Klement both hopes for and predicts that mistakes of 1973 will not be repeated. Also notes globalisation has markedly affected world economy since fall of the USSR, and that globalisation is highly deflationary.
13:42 Lunch Workshop
Klement: Brexit has led to real decline in labour supply in UK
13:36 Lunch Workshop
Klement compares current situation to inflationary periods of 1973 and 1990, with notable differences such as labour markets.
13:30 Lunch Workshop
Stevenson: What is to happen with stagflation 'the $64 trillion question'
Welcome to ETF Ecosystem Unwrapped 2022! Follow this page for live updates from the event including quotes, opinion and analysis of the sessions ahead.
The Lunch Workshop - Stagflation: A return to the 1970s - with Joachim Klement, investment strategist and ESG specialist at Liberum and David Stevenson, a columnist at the Financial Times, will kick off at 13:30.
