Kaplan, BlackRock launch ETF classes

Yasmine Raso

Senior Journalist, Financial Newswire

8 November 2022

Financial education provider, Kaplan Professional, and global asset manager, BlackRock, have partnered to launch an inaugural exchange traded fund (ETF) short course created specifically for financial advisers.

The ETFs and Portfolio Construction course highlights ETFs as a popular investment vehicle among other global investment trends, with modules providing an introduction to ETFs, liquidity and trading and portfolio construction.

“We know advisers are wanting continuing education that will interest them, improve them, and increase their ability to specialise,” Kaplan chief executive, Brian Knight, said.

“This is why Kaplan Professional is focused on offering as many opportunities as possible for advisers to extend their competence, knowledge and skills in emerging, niche and specialist areas – our work with BlackRock and the ETF short course is just another example.

“Advisers are increasingly using ETFs in client portfolios as a way to add further diversification; the short course will help them to effectively incorporate ETFs in the portfolio construction process.

“Throughout the short course, advisers will explore new ways of investing, including fixed income ETFs, factor investing and thematic ETFs. They will also learn how to compare and contrast the different types of ETFs available, and analyse the key considerations to evaluate which one to invest in.”

Chantal Giles, Head of Wealth at BlackRock Australasia said the course forms part of the firm’s dedication to developing awareness and providing investment education in Australia.

“BlackRock is excited to work with Kaplan Professional to develop a tailored course specifically for advisers to enhance their understanding of exchange traded products (ETPs) in the context of their whole portfolio,” she said.

“The exponential growth in the Australian ETP landscape has democratised access to a broad range of investment strategies, asset classes, thematics, and geographies. At the same time, the proliferation of products has also meant investors are increasingly looking to their advisers for guidance and information to discern what ETP best fits their risk/ return preferences.

“BlackRock believes it is even more important for advisers to learn to look at other product considerations including product structure, benchmark, as well as total cost of ownership.”