Investor Economics Insight February 2019

Canadian Product Development Research by Strategic Insight

It may have looked as if the Canadian regulators timed the introduction of a new regime for liquid alternatives to coincide with a period of ongoing market instability—an ideal environment for products uncorrelated to capital markets to show what they are capable of. Fund manufacturers, however, have been slow in introducing liquid alternatives and have instead continued to focus on traditional products, but with a tilt toward more narrow mandates and styles. Enter thematic funds.

The February research feature of Insight examines the product development pipeline during the course of 2018, uncovering which mutual funds, segregated funds, ETFs and liquid alternatives have been launched in Canada over that period, and closing with a review of development trends in global markets. The Trendlines article reviews the rapid changes in net flows by asset class for different products over the course of 2018 and in January 2019.