Charles Schwab, a low cost broker, has unveiled the Schwab ETF OneSource 2016 ETF Industry Outlook, an interactive microsite that explores the ETF topics and trends that will be most important to investors and advisors in the year ahead. Heather Fischer, Vice President of ETF Platform Management at Charles Schwab, commented: “The Schwab ETF OneSource 2016 ETF Industry Outlook is a dynamic collaboration among Schwab ETF OneSource participants designed to shed light on the ETF landscape and provide investors with practical insights about ETF investing in today’s market environment.”

Broker and exchange traded fund provider Charles Schwab has added 14 new ETFs to Schwab ETF OneSource, its commission-free ETF platform. The new funds broaden the range of products within categories such as smart beta and currency-hedged funds. They include funds provided by Deutsche Asset Management and John Hancock.

ETFGI, a London-based exchange-traded fund consultancy, has released research showing that growth in net new assets within the global ETF/ETP space is moving at a faster pace than ever before. The report found that $319.4bn in net gatherings have been achieved as of 30 November 2015, 15% above the previous year-to-date (YTD) record of $277.3bn set last year. Global net gatherings of $29.9bn were recorded during November, marking the 22nd consecutive month of positive net flows for the industry.

Exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded products listed in the US have gathered $201.7bn in net new assets as of the end of November according to London-based ETF consultancy ETFGI. The net inflows represent a 5% increase on the $191.8bn brought in over the same period last year. This sets the industry up for another full-year record breaking performance. It is the 10th consecutive month of positive net inflows for the country.

ETFGI, a London-based exchange-traded fund consultancy, has released their latest findings from their Global ETF and ETP insights report, showing strong growth in net new assets of US ETFs. On the global stage, $287.3bn in net new assets have been channelled into ETFs (YTD as of 1 November 2015), representing a 22.3% increase over the prior record set last year, and indicating that growth in this sector is still robust. In the US alone, ETFs/ETPs pulled in a net total of $28.4bn in assets under management (AUM), marking the ninth consecutive month of positive inflows for the country.

Charles Schwab, a low-cost broker and ETF provider, has released the 2015 ETF Investor Study which explores investors’ opinions and attitudes on key trends within the exchange-traded fund industry. The report found that investors were assigning one-fifth (21%) of their portfolios to ETFs. This represents significant growth from a 16% allocation to ETFs that was recorded in 2012. Furthermore, one-third of investors (34%) plan to use ETFs as their core investment type within their portfolios in the future.

Company-specific problems at three of the largest US-based providers of ETF managed portfolios have seen total assets under management within the segment drop by 7% this quarter, according to the Morningstar ETF Managed Portfolios Landscape report. “Despite this major disruption, the remaining firms were largely unaffected as collective assets remained roughly steady. The net result was a further flattening of the landscape,” noted Ling-Wei Hew, ETF Managed Portfolio Research Analyst at Morningstar.

Deloitte has released a report investigating the rise of “robo-advisors” and the threat they pose to traditional wealth advisors. The report quantifies the explosive growth seen in 2014, with AUM for the top 11 players rising from $11.5bn in April to $19.0bn by end the year. The growth rates may be impressive, but, according to Deloitte, “these new market entrants are still nascent and represent a trivial amount relative to the $25+ trillion retail investable assets in the United States. Their lack of distribution has likely contributed to difficulties in reaching a large number of potential customers. But this may be about to change with large wealth management firms now joining the fray, including Charles Schwab and Vanguard, bringing both investment dollars and distribution to the robo-advice space.”

Exchange-traded funds have long been heralded for their ability to provide investors with security market returns at a reasonable cost. The missing link for many investors has been a method to turn these building blocks into a complete portfolio solution which caters to their individual needs and to do so cheaply and easily. Financial technology companies, such as London-based ETFmatic, are working to fill this niche through technology-driven asset-allocation solutions and low-cost ETFs. These innovative young firms look set to disrupt the staid ways of the UK wealth management industry.

Even with a perceived proliferation of exchange-traded funds on the market today, two-thirds of investors say there is room for more, according to a new study by retail broker Charles Schwab. Among them, nearly 60 percent say more ETFs will lead to increased competition and lower prices, and that continued product innovation is necessary to keep up with a changing market and economy. More than a quarter say that more product choice is the industry trend that has most benefited investors in the past few years, while forty percent are particularly keen to learn more about ‘smart beta’ and how these innovative products can best be harnessed.