Australian exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider, BetaShares, is to make its debut official live appearance in NZ next week ahead of a slated local product launch later this year.
Thom Bentley, BetaShares NZ head of adviser and institutional, said the triple-city series of adviser lunchtime briefings marked the group’s first formal investment presentations this side of the Tasman.
The roadshow will include portfolio construction insights from BetaShares senior investment specialist, Cameron Gleeson, along with head of capital markets and institutional, Peter Harper.
“They’re going to present an evidence-based approach to portfolio construction,” Bentley said. “For instance, they’ll be looking at how advisers can construct better portfolios in the face of rising inflation and interest rates.”
BetaShares is one of Australia’s largest ETF providers, boasting more than A$22 billion under management spread over 60 plus underlying products.
The firm appointed Bentley, who held a similar role at the NZX-owned Smartshares, last May as its first NZ hire after flagging ambitions to launch here several years ago.
While NZ investors can already access BetaShares ETFs via the ASX, the manager plans to roll-out a product suite domiciled on this side of the Tasman later in 2022.
“The NZ product development is continuing apace, aiming for a launch in the fourth quarter,” Bentley said.
However, BetaShares is currently awaiting regulatory approval for its managed investment scheme licence – a prerequisite to offering NZ-domiciled products including portfolio investment entity (PIE) funds.
If approved, BetaShares would be able to compete head-to-head in the ETF PIE space with SmartShares.
According to the latest NZX market update, SmartShares reported about $5.7 billion in its ETF range as at the end of April. Smartshares offers more than 30 ETFs across a wide range of asset classes including ‘thematic’ strategies. The ASX lists about 290 ETFs.
In the Australian market, BetaShares has been among the most active in ETF creation, launching four specialist options year-to-date alone – covering themes such as e-commerce, video-gaming, tele-medicine and quality – with another one on the way (futuristic food stocks).
But the first BetaShares NZ products will most likely focus on more traditional asset benchmarks.
Founded in 2009 by Alex Vynokur, BetaShares has ridden the ETF wave in Australia that has seen the market soar from almost nothing to over A$133 billion at the end of April this year.
The April BetaShares update shows the Australian ETF market cap increased almost A$25 billion over the 12-month period (or about 23 per cent) but has hit a rough patch in 2022.
Volatile markets saw the ASX-listed ETF total assets under management fall 1.4 per cent (close to A$2 billion) in April despite positive net flows.
“Following a March in which the industry grew in size, and notwithstanding positive net flows, the Australian ETF industry dropped in value in April, reflecting falls in global sharemarkets, and representing the third month out of four in 2022 in which the industry has declined,” the BetaShares report says.
The BetaShares NZ roadshow takes in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland on May 30, May 31 and June 2, respectively.