Goldman Sachs has unveiled an ETF white labelling service, becoming the first major Wall Street institution to enter the fast-growing market.
Goldman Sachs has entered the white-label ETF market.
White labelling platforms aim to help prospective ETF issuers bring their strategies to market by offering a full package of services including product development, compliance, capital markets, sales, marketing, and distribution.
By delivering a full-service offering, white-label providers help to lower barriers to entry, opening up the opportunity for fund managers of any size to have their own ETFs.
Goldman Sachs’ white-label ETF platform, the Goldman Sachs ETF Accelerator, is due to launch in both the US and Europe.
The white-label market in the US is more developed than its European counterpart with several existing participants such as ETF Managers Group, Tidal Financial Services, Exchange Traded Concepts, and ETF Architect all having assisted with numerous product launches. While the market is somewhat mature, Goldman still expects significant growth, especially from smaller fund managers seeking to take advantage of recently approved semi-transparent ETF structures.
Lisa Mantil, Head of Goldman Sachs ETF Accelerator, commented: “Many of our clients have told us they believe the next wave of growth is in active ETFs. They want to be a part of that growth but don’t have the expertise or infrastructure to do so. We are delivering a digital solution that allows us to partner with our clients on that journey.”
Europe’s white labelling market, in comparison, is notably smaller with the independently owned HANetf being the only firm to currently offer an active platform.
Momentum has picked up in recent years, however, with HANetf boasting a roster of more than 40 products collectively housing around $1.8 billion in assets, despite having debuted its first ETF as recently as September 2018.
HANetf’s success has not gone unnoticed though. Leverage Shares entered the market earlier this year and has already brought two products to market, while several other would-be competitors including Axxion, Waystone, and Ionic Funds have all declared their intention to launch white-label platforms in the near future.