ETF issuers bring a wide range of specialties to the table for investors, and Columbia Threadneedle looks to lean heavily into its research-driven approach for its ETF suite this year. Marz Zeitoin, COO North America and head of strategic beta at Columbia Threadneedle, explained to NYSE’s Judy Shaw that the focus for Columbia this year was on weaving this foundation of research throughout the company’s ETF franchise.
“The heart of who we are is research: research intensity, portfolio management, professional management,” explained Zeitoin.
Utilizing research can look different within different strategies. For passive funds, it can mean building rules for the fund, whereas for active semi-transparent funds, it can mean identifying the right portfolio manager to run the ETF.
“We’re not providing access, we’re providing insight,” Zeitoin said.
ETFs from Columbia Threadneedle offer investors a range of strategies and exposures to choose from, including the Columbia EM Core ex-China ETF (XCEM ), which invests in emerging markets but excludes China and Russia by default, and offers advisors and investors opportunity for their portfolios.
“There is a great opportunity to tax-loss harvest their traditional EM but preserve the exposure through XCEM,” said Zeitoin of the passive fund.
Advisors are looking hard at emerging markets and their exposures this year as they seek diversification for their portfolios and search for lower correlations to U.S. markets.
“Advisors are understandably very concerned about that statement risk, where they’ll show their clients emerging markets with bad performance and that geopolitical news cycle,” Zeitoin discussed. “Having a solution like XCEM in its place is a better solution, and therefore we’re hearing a lot of advisors warm up to that and get excited about it.”
On the semi-transparent side, the Columbia Seligman Semiconductor and Technology ETF (SEMI ), which launched in March of this year, is another fund that Zeitoin highlighted.
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