Growing demand in recent years for low-cost, easily tradeable, liquid and transparent
investment products, resulted in the global expansion of the Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF)
industry. Since 2007, global assets under management in ETFs skyrocketed from €0.8 trillion to
€4.7 trillion – the market climbed 37% just in 2017. However, and despite the fact that US and
European markets have each grown at a yearly average rate of approximately 18%, the latter
represents only 16% of the global market.1 The lag in the European ETF market demonstrates
that: i) it is highly fragmented with multiple listings across many exchanges, ii) Europe’s capital
markets have not been successful in attracting retail investors, iii) more on-exchange ETF
trading is necessary, and iv) regulation and innovation can further develop and harmonise the
market to move it towards more transparency and cost-efficiency
