WisdomTree's Abner: Active managers breaking into ETFs face a 'conflict of interest'

New players in the market

David Abner, head of WisdomTree Europe, speaks to Tom Eckett about life after the ETF Securities acquisition, structural issues in the European ETF market and conflicts of interest within the wider industry

Abner (pictured) said traditional active managers have been forced to enter the ETF market by the huge demand seen in recent years, but they face a conflict of interest as they simultaneously strive to protect their active funds businesses. Over the past few years, a number of traditional active players have entered the European ETF industry, including J.P. Morgan Asset Management in November 2017 and Franklin Templeton Investments with its LibertyShares business last September. "It is tricky for large asset managers to compensate their sales team if they have been selling expensive [...