Exchange traded fund (ETF) manager, BetaShares and Legg Mason have announced they have entered into a long-term strategic partnership to launch a range of active ETFs.
Initially, the two companies would launch two active ETFs with an income objective which would trade on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), they said.
The partnership would be expected to provide Australian investors with wider investment options as both companies said they planned to launch more active ETFs products later on.
BetaShares’ managing director, Alex Vynokur said: “Legg Mason is one of the world’s largest and most experienced asset managers with market-leading investment management capabilities across multiple major asset classes, so we’re excited to be part of this collaboration.
“Combining Legg Mason’s award-winning active management capability with BetaShares deep ETF skillset, the partnership aims to deliver a suite of high quality active ETFs that give Australian investors more solutions to diversify their portfolios and achieve their investment objectives.”
The company said there were currently 14 active ETFs trading on the Australian Securities Exchange, with funds under management in active ETFs growing to $1.7 billion in 2017, up 82 per cent from the year before.
Legg Mason’s managing director, Australia and New Zealand, Andy Sowerby added: “BetaShares is a leading Australian ETF manager with a pedigree in innovation. Its extensive ETF experience, track record of growth, capabilities in sales and marketing and broad suite of funds made BetaShares the obvious partnership choice for our active ETF ambitions in Australia.”
