Adviser ETF usage soars

The Betashares/Investment Trends ETF Report surveyed around 800 advisers and found that over 59 per cent were using the investment vehicles with their clients, up from 27 per cent in 2010.

In addition, a further 17 per cent intended to start using ETFs before the end of the year, the report noted.

Those advisers who were already using ETFs were allocating an average of 20 per cent of their clients’ portfolios to the investment vehicles, up from 17 per cent in 2019.

When it came to their reasoning for using ETFs, advisers cited cost-effectiveness, diversification and access to specific markets or asset classes.

“The findings support our observation that investors and advisers are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their use of ETFs to achieve more targeted portfolio construction goals,” Betashares managing director Alex Vynokur said. 

“With the wide selection of ETFs now available on the ASX, it’s easier than ever for ETFs to access a range of asset classes, sectors, regions and themes in a convenient, cost-effective way.”

Mr Vynokur added that ethical investing was also a growing category of interest for ETF users, with the proportion of planners who provided advice on ethical investments more than doubling from 19 per cent in 2015 to 40 per cent in 2020.

“The research on responsible investing confirms what we have experienced at BetaShares. We have seen tremendous take-up in our ethical ETFs since we launched our first ethical ETF in 2017, with more than $2 billion now invested across our ethical range,” Mr Vynokur said. 

“There has been strong demand for this kind of solution from self-directed and advised investors alike. Advisers are responding to this demand. We expect the trend of increasing adoption of responsible investing to continue for some time.”