Morgan Stanley to Close 6 Remaining ETFs on FundLogic Platform

The funds had assets of between $1 million and $3 million.

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Reviewed by: Kent Thune
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Edited by: James Rubin

Morgan Stanley is to close its remaining six smart beta exchange-traded funds available on its FundLogic platform.

The group said assets had fallen below a specific threshold of $50 million across its six remaining ETFs, which will stop trading on Sept. 17. 

Morgan Stanley declined to comment on the closures.

Morgan Stanley ETFs Closing

The ETFs have total expense ratios (TERs) of 0.30%, with total assets of the individual funds sitting between $1 million and less than $3 million.

The ETFs look to capture six factors, value, size, low volatility, high momentum, low investment and high profitability.

It highlights how smart beta ETFs have fallen out of popularity, with the asset class suffering outflows of $1.7 billion (1.5 billion euros) in the first quarter of 2024.

Last year, Northern Trust Asset Management closed four of its five factor ETFs, before Waystone ETFs agreed to take over its Irish platform and its one remaining ETF in June.

The group entered the U.S. ETF market last year and now looks to be focusing its ETF efforts solely on the market.

The multi-factor range lost 91.7% of its assets in 2023 after amassing $334 million (300million euros) in its first five years. USHF held $224 million in assets under management on the closure of MS Scientific Beta US Equity Factors UCITS ETF (USEF) in October 2022.

Morgan Stanley shut USEF in 2022 with less than $1 million AUM, and previously closed the MS Scientific Beta Global Equity Factors UCITS ETF (GEF) which delisted in Aug. 2021.

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