ETF.com and Inside ETFs are pleased to announce the finalists for the 2018 ETF.com awards. These annual awards are designed to recognize the people, companies and products driving the ETF industry forward and delivering new value to investors.
2018 was a tumultuous year for markets, with major upheavals in the U.S. and abroad. However, the ETF industry plowed ahead, pulling in more than $315 billion in net new assets.
Innovation was also alive and well in 2018, with 250 new products coming to market. Fee wars continued to shake things up among issuers, and the notable new trend of “bringing your own assets” to new ETFs colored a lot of the distribution prowess we saw last year.
The annual independent ETF.com Awards are the most coveted in the industry, as they are widely seen as the most robust recognition of innovative success.
Winners in each category will be announced at the ETF.com Awards Dinner, taking place March 28, 2019, at Chelsea Piers, Pier 61, in New York. Winners will also be announced on the www.etf.com website on March 29, 2018, and in the April 2019 issue of ETF Report.
Methodology
ETF.com Award winners are selected in a three-part process designed to leverage the insights and opinions of leaders throughout the ETF industry.
Step 1
The awards process began with open nominations, which started Dec. 3, 2018, and closed Jan. 3, 2019.
Step 2
Following the open nominations process, the ETF.com Awards Nominating committee—made up of senior leaders at ETF.com, Inside ETFs and the FactSet ETF team (whose data powers the ETF.com website and fund reports)—voted to select up to five finalists in each category. Votes were cast on a majority basis, and ties broken where possible with head-to-head runoff votes. If ties could not be broken, more than five finalists were allowed. The nomination voting concluded Jan. 14, 2019.
2018 Nominating Committee
Matt Hougan, Chairman, Inside ETFs (Chair)
Paul Britt, Senior Analyst, FactSet
Elisabeth Kashner, Director of ETF Research, FactSet
Dave Nadig, Managing Director, ETF.com
Drew Voros, Editor-in-Chief, ETF.com
Step 3
Winners among these finalists will be selected by a majority vote of the ETF.com Awards Selection committee, a group of independent ETF experts from throughout the ETF community. Committee members will recuse themselves from voting in any category in which they or their firms appear as finalists. Ties will be decided where possible with head-to-head runoff votes.
2018 Awards Selection Committee
Kim Arthur, Main Management
Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg Intelligence
Ben Blaisdell, US Trust
Rob Glownia, RiverFront
Tom Lydon, ETFtrends.com
Phil Mackintosh, NASDAQ
Tyler Mordy, Forstrong Global Asset Management
Todd Rosenbluth, CFRA
Jim Wiandt, Industry Expert
Voting was completed in January, but results will be kept secret until they are announced at the ETF.com Awards Dinner on March 28, 2019.
