ETF Securities Limited, who helped in developing Exchange Traded Commodities (ETCs), has obtained a USD10 million equity commitment from FTVentures, a private equity firm with 37 financial institutions as its limited partners.
FTVentures is the first institutional investor in the company and the only party to hold shares outside of management. Following the recent listings of ETCs on the London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Brse, and Euronext Amsterdam, total assets under management have increased by 100 percent since the end of September 2006 to USD285 million, with its latest Commodity Securities growing rapidly to over USD100 million in less than four months.
“ETF Securities’ first set of products offers a highly attractive solution to investors seeking to invest in commodities – an important asset class in which they had historically been unable to access cost-effectively,” says Ben Cukier, a partner at FTVentures and new board member at ETF Securities. “The company has already established a brand name in Europe for its compelling product offering and is led by a seasoned and well-respected management team. The demand for ETFs and ETCs over other investment products, such as mutual funds, continues to grow exponentially. ETF Securities brings the product development and management expertise to open up other asset classes and unique investment strategies for cost-effective investing as they have already done for commodities.”
“FTVentures brings a tremendous amount of experience in the asset management industry and particularly in the ETF space,” adds Graham Tuckwell, the Chairman and CEO of ETF Securities. “They have built an impressive global network of financial services executives from the leading firms that make up their partner base; this network offers attractive distribution opportunities and we welcome the opportunity to partner with FTVentures in our expansion efforts.”