“For some of these smaller guys, distribution is the holy grail to unlocking ETF success,” she said.
Success is far from assured, however. From index-tracking giants such as BlackRock Inc. and Vanguard Group to thematic powerhouses such as ARK Investment Management, the ETF industry is a cutthroat arena.
Assets in thematic ETFs have dropped to about $145 billion from $164 billion at the start of the year. Meanwhile, the market for leveraged and inverse products -- which many of the planned AXS funds will target -- is dominated by the likes of Direxion and ProShares. AXS is now in a race to issue the first single-stock ETFs in the U.S.
Bassuk, who is currently hiring for sales, product and operations roles, is undaunted.
“We’re making significant investment on the distribution side, the product side,” he said.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.