J.P. Morgan AM launches active ETFs on ASX

Oksana Patron

11 November 2022

J.P. Morgan Asset Management has announced the launch of its first active exchange traded funds (ETFs) on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income Active ETF (“JEPI”) and the JPMorgan Global Research Enhanced Index Active ETF (JREG).

The firm said that the listing of the two new funds was a significant milestone and it will leverage its experience of an active manager and the breadth of its global products, with the launch of these two ETFs being “just the beginning”.

“For us, it’s not about the quantity, but the quality of our active capabilities and where we see demand from investors. We want to help our clients achieve their investment objectives and our goal is to be the leading global active asset manager in Australia,” Andrew Creber, Australia and New Zealand chief executive, said.

The firm said that its domestically listed JEPI fed directly into the US Master Fund, which was launched in the US in May 2020 and which currently ranks number one for flows into active ETFs year to date, with US$3.5 billion in net new assets in Q3 alone.

JEPI would aim to deliver monthly distributable income with lower volatility than the U.S. stock market, appealing to Australian investors searching for income in the inflationary environment.

The second ETF, JREG, would be an active global equity solution that would leverage the J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s Global Equity Platform and may look and feel like the MSCI World ex Australia benchmark in that it is country, sector and style neutral, but it would leverage active stock selection from over 90 fundamental research analysts who cover 2500+ stocks with 5000+ company visits annually, JPMAM said.

JREG would also seek to incorporate the best of both active and passive, and play a versatile role in portfolios, including as a cost-effective core exposure to certain equity markets or as an asset allocation tool.