ETFs on the decline among SMSFs
A shrinking proportion of recent investors in exchange traded funds (ETFs) made their investment through their SMSF, as the average ETF investor became younger, more gender diverse and interested in using the products for more sophisticated purposes than passive investing, according to BetaShares research.
The ETF provider’s 2019 ETF Report, produced using an Investment Trends study of over 3,300 investors, revealed that just 14 per cent of those who invested in an ETF within the last two years did so through their SMSF, compared to 54 per cent five years ago.
Similarly, the average age of a new ETF investor had altered from 56 five years ago to 42 years old for those who had invested within the last two years, according to the report.
ETF investors had also become more gender diverse in recent times, with 24 per cent of those who had started investing in ETFs over the past two years being female, compared to 11 per cent five years ago, the report said.
In addition, the way this new wave of ETF investors is using the products was also changing, according to statistics in the report.
Among those who planned to start using ETFs in the next 12 months, 32 per cent were planning to use active ETFs, 46 per cent planned to use a combination of active and passive ETFs, and 32 per cent planned to use just passive ETFs.
This was a significant increase in active ETF user numbers compared to last year’s report, where 21 per cent of next-wave ETF investors had planned to use ETFs, 33 per cent a combination of active and passive ETFs, and 46 per cent just passive ETFs.
Among next-wave ETF investors, there was also an increasing consciousness of the ethical impacts of their investments, with 47 per cent saying it was important or very important to invest in companies with good environmental and sustainability standards, compared to 42 per cent of current ETF investors.
