LGIM completes acquisition of ETF Securities’ European ETF platform

Mar 19th, 2018 | By | Category: ETF and Index News

Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) has completed its acquisition of Canvas, the European ETF platform formerly owned by ETF Securities.

Mark Zinkula, CEO of Legal & General Investment Management

Mark Zinkula, CEO of Legal & General Investment Management.

The completion of the transaction marks a significant milestone in LGIM’s expansion into Europe, strengthening its capabilities and providing clients with access to a suite of existing ETF strategies.

The newly acquired line-up of ETFs includes equity, fixed income (created in partnership with Lombard Odier Investment Management), and commodity funds.

The entire suite encompasses more than $3 billion in assets under management across 20 products listed on multiple European exchanges.

The equity range includes inverse and leveraged products tracking the DAX and FTSE 100 indices, but mainly revolves around thematic ETFs tracking the performance of various disruptive technologies. The largest of these are the $1.3 billion Robo Global Robotics and Automation GO UCITS ETF (ROBO LN) and the $460 million ETFS ICE Cyber Security UCITS ETF (USPY LN).

According to LGIM, the growing trend in the ETF market towards more thematic strategies aligns with the firm’s existing focus on long-term trends shaping the investment landscape, such as energy transition, technology and demographics.

Mark Zinkula, LGIM CEO, said, “With deep expertise in delivering a diverse and innovative range of client solutions, LGIM will now offer a compelling range of ETFs alongside its existing index funds. This was the right opportunity to expand our capabilities and ensure we can meet client demand in this rapidly growing market.”

Mark Weeks, CEO of ETF Securities, added, “The Canvas ETF initiative was launched at the end of 2013 and has quickly grown into an innovative, diversified cross-asset ETF platform. We believe it is in an excellent position for further growth under the guidance of the highly respected firm, LGIM. Both firms have worked together to ensure a seamless handover of the business and we are confident that existing and new investors will continue to experience high standards of service and benefit from innovative investment solutions.”

Howie Li, former CEO of Canvas, who has relocated to LGIM’s London offices with the existing Canvas team, commented, “The combination of LGIM’s breadth and scale, coupled with the specific ETF expertise that the Canvas team brings, signals an exciting new phase for both parties. We look forward to working together to deliver the best outcomes for both existing and new clients.”

As well as filling LGIM’s product suite with a range of established ETFs, the deal also provides the UK’s largest asset manager with the infrastructure to quickly bring further strategies to market within an ETF wrapper. The firm has announced it intends to continue growing the platform, adding its own products to the range later this year.

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