White-label ETP platform HANetf has surpassed $500 million in assets under management, less than two years after the firm listed its debut ETF.
Nik Bienkowski, co-Founder and co-CEO, HANetf.
The milestone was first reached on 20 July, before assets briefly dipped back below the $500m mark. They have since powered back and now stand at $565m.
HANetf was founded in 2017 by seasoned ETF operators Hector McNeil and Nik Bienkowski and is headquartered in London. McNeil and Bienkowski are veterans of ETF Securities, Boost ETP, and WisdomTree Europe.
The firm offers a turnkey solution for asset managers seeking to enter the ETF market in Europe.
Targets clients include existing US and Asian ETF issuers looking to expand their distribution to Europe and traditional European mutual fund managers looking to deploy their strategies in an ETF wrapper.
The platform offers a full range of services including product development, compliance, operations, capital markets, sales, marketing, and distribution.
HANetf currently has eight ETFs/ETCs from six clients live on its roster.
Its first ETF – the EMQQ Emerging Markets Internet & Ecommerce UCITS ETF (EMQQ LN), launched in October 2018 – recently surged through the $100m AUM threshold courtesy of sector-leading portfolio performance and supercharged investor demand.
The ETF, devised by US-based Big Tree Capital, has been one of the world’s best-performing emerging market ETFs of 2020, delivering an impressive 38.2% return compared to a -1.4% loss for the broad market MSCI Emerging Markets Index.
The largest product in the HANetf stable is the Royal Mint Physical Gold ETC (RMAU LN). The ETC only launched in February of this year and now commands more than $340m in assets. Backed by physical gold held in the vaults of The Royal Mint in Wales, it has benefitted from significant inflows as investors seek out safe-haven assets amid the ongoing Covid-19 market uncertainty. It also offers a relatively low-cost access point for gold exposure with an expense ratio of 0.22%.
HANetf’s other products include three disruptive technology ETFs in cooperation with GinsGlobal Index Funds; a broad market Kuwait equity ETF in partnership with KMEFIC; a medical cannabis ETF in collaboration with Purpose Investments; and a bitcoin ETP from ETC Group that is aimed at institutional investors.
Nik Bienkowski, co-Founder and co-CEO at HANetf, said, “We’re proud to have hit another significant milestone so rapidly. The appetite for ETFs grows stronger every day as investors are placing higher value on products that offer great exposures with the added benefits of cost-effectiveness and liquidity. This, in turn, is drawing more asset managers into the ETF space as they seek to tap into the immensely effective distribution power of ETFs.
“Since launch, HANetf has demonstrated that asset managers can bring their ideas, compete, and succeed in the European ETF market without the highs costs and distribution challenges that come with starting an ETF business from scratch.”
HANetf is gearing up to launch its next ETF through a partnership with Texas-based energy-infrastructure indexing and research firm Alerian. The Alerian Midstream Energy Dividend UCITS ETF will provide exposure to dividend-paying North American midstream energy infrastructure companies including master limited partnerships (MLPs).
HANetf expects to further build out its product offering in the coming months, noting that it is in discussion with over 50 fund managers about entering the European ETF space.