Report: ETFs Gaining Popularity for Alternative Investment Strategies

A recent report by Cogent Research finds that while advisors currently use mutual funds more than ETFs to access alternative investments (78% versus 59%, respectively), ETFs are quickly gaining market share. Among advisors who currently access alternative asset classes or strategies, 29% expect to increase their use of ETFs for these purposes. By contrast, just 17% plan to increase their use of mutual funds.  “Advisors continue to flock to ETFs that access alternative investments for the same reasons they seek this vehicle in traditional asset classes – cost efficiency, liquidity, and transparency,” said Steven Sixt, Senior Project Director and study co-author. While ETFs are gaining in popularity and garner nearly equal consideration for accessing several strategies, particularly long-short commodities, long-short currencies, and long-short interest, advisors overwhelmingly prefer mutual funds when accessing multi-strategy/multi-alternative strategies.  The report was based on a nationally representative survey of 1,741 retail investment advisors.