Total assets managed by ETF strategists grew 2.2 percent in last year’s fourth quarter, marking the fourth consecutive quarterly growth in this segment, according to Morningstar.
In the most recent quarterly edition of its ETF Managed Portfolios Landscape Report, which was released on Friday, the Chicago-based investment research company says roughly $95 million of the $1.9 billion in quarter-over-quarter asset growth in the space resulted from new strategies added to its database. WisdomTree, Northern Trust and Cambria were among the companies who added their performance numbers to the database.
ETF strategists are firms that deploy a minimum 50 percent allocation to ETFs to create asset allocation strategies. All told, Morningstar tracked 881 strategies from 162 firms with total assets of $86.7 billion as of year-end 2016.
As detailed in the report, three of the five strategies with the biggest quarter-over-quarter asset growth were in “vanilla” 60/40 stock/bond strategic asset-allocation portfolios, which Morningstar says highlights a shift toward more conservative approaches following relatively recent, well-publicized problems at some high-profile tactical-oriented strategists.
According to Morningstar, 20 companies that offer ETF managed portfolios have more than $1 billion in assets under management. Windhaven Investment Management was tops at nearly $9 billion, though it saw a quarterly decline in assets of more than $1.2 billion. The fifth-largest player in the space, BlackRock Inc., saw the second biggest asset decline at $485 million.
The largest quarterly asset gain was registered by Vanguard Advisers Inc, which reported $942.9 million in additional assets. Clark Capital Management Inc. ($650.5 million), SEI Trust Company ($470.9 million) and Morningstar itself ($350 million) were next among the largest asset gainers among the top 25 strategist firms.