Source, a large provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in Europe, has partnered with Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) to launch a new physical fund platform, Source Markets II.
Source so far has largely offered synthetic ETFs, which track indexes by using derivatives such as swaps instead of physically holding each of the securities in an index. Synthetic ETFs have been criticised by regulators and some in the investment community for their complexity.
The new platform, according to Source, will expand its capacity to launch a wider range of physically-replicated products, adding to its current range of 15 "physical" products.
LGIM launched a commodity ETF in conjunction with Source in January 2012, the LGIM Commodity Composite Source ETF (LGCU).
LGIM is one of the largest providers of index funds in Europe (£264bn/$400bn) and a major global investor with total assets under management of £717bn.
Source said the launch of the platform with LGIM will be complementary to its existing range of exchange-traded products. "The new platform is all about increasing investor choice," said Lee Kranefuss, chairman of Source. "We want to enable our investors to select the structure they prefer and are most comfortable with."
He added that having capabilities to launch more physical products would allow Source to target a wider investor base. "Over 75% of investor flow since January 2014 has been into physical ETFs, so there is clearly strong demand for this type of replication method, and we intend to offer all of our investors the choice they deserve."
Kranefuss said some of the investment ideas in the firm's pipeline for 2016 "may be more suitable for physical replication and others for alternative methods."
Earlier this year, Source, which is owned by private-equity firm Warburg Pincus, closed its US-based ETF business and Source's founder and CEO at the time, Ted Hood, also left the firm.