As the assets of the exchange traded fund (ETF) industry crossed the US$4 trillion mark, interest in ETFs continues to grow. The industry itself is evolving. From being a product and supply-led sector, application and demand now underpin the sector’s expansion. Until recently, regulators, stock exchanges and providers were major drivers of ETF activity. Today, investment demand from pension funds, insurance companies and banks is influencing trade.

In fact, institutional investors are now among the biggest users of ETFs globally. They are taking up a huge share of the assets that general investors, wealth management firms and private banks used to dominate. In Japan, the Government Pension Investment Fund – the world’s largest pension fund – and the central bank invest in ETFs, fuelling demand for the Japanese depositary receipts.

Meanwhile, the changing ETF landscape is driving ETF providers to rethink their strategies amid the increasing participation of institutional investors. Beyond launching new ETF products, providers are also offering solutions to investors.

The 3rd ETF Asia Summit, aptly titled ETF 2.0: Process, Portfolio, Platform, will bring together the most influential participants driving the growth of the ETF sector in Asia to discuss the newest trends in the market. Beyond obtaining strategic exposures, how are institutional investors deploying ETFs to meet their investment guidelines? How can ETFs play a role in the current low interest rate environment? How effective are factor-based ETFs in helping to manage portfolio volatility? With the popularity of multi-asset investing, what is the advantage of employing ETFs as part of the asset allocation?

The Asset Events is pleased to present the 3rd ETF Asia Summit 2017, a strategic one-day event, which will bring together investors, asset managers and product providers to discuss and debate the factors driving the development of the ETF market in Asia.