Aberdeen Standard Investments has acquired the US operations of ETP issuer ETF Securities. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Aberdeen Standard Investments has acquired ETF Securities’ US operations for an undisclosed amount.
The acquisition will see Aberdeen Standard Investments, the asset management business of Standard Life Aberdeen, one of the world’s largest investment companies, add ETF Securities’ $2.8 billion range of specialist commodity ETPs to its own line-up of investment products.
The acquisition enhances Aberdeen Standard’s presence in the US market and means it is now able to offer investment solutions across all vehicle types.
The asset manager says it will use the ETF platform (and exemptive relief) to grow its existing smart beta capability by launching new strategies within the ETF wrapper.
Chris Demetriou, CEO-Americas at Aberdeen Standard Investments, commented, “Aberdeen Standard Investments has been offering passive, quant and smart beta solutions to clients for some years now, managing over $84bn in assets in these strategies. The expansion of our capabilities into the ETF space shows our commitment to providing the largest range of solutions to our clients in the US.”
ETF Securities’ US product suite includes a range of precious metals ETPs which provide exposure to spot prices by physically acquiring the underlying commodity. The ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (SGOL US) is by far the largest in the suite with over $1.1bn in AUM.
The other ETPs in the range are the ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (PPLT US), AUM – $506 million; the ETFS Physical Precious Metals Basket Shares (GLTR US), AUM – $383m; the ETFS Physical Silver Shares (SIVR US), AUM – $336m; and the ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (PALL US), AUM – $215m.
ETF Securities also offers three broad commodity ETFs which track the popular Bloomberg Commodity Indices. These funds are the ETFS Bloomberg All Commodity Strategy K-1 Free ETF (BCI US), ETFS Bloomberg All Commodity Longer Dated Strategy K-1 Free ETF (BCD US), and the ETFS Bloomberg Energy Commodity Longer Dated Strategy K-1 Free ETF (BEF US).
ETF Securities’ European operations, which includes a product suite with more than $18bn in AUM across commodity, currency, and inverse and leveraged ETPs, was recently sold off to WisdomTree. The deal finalised at the end of the first quarter 2018.