Vanguard, one of the world’s giants of passive management, wants to expand in the Spanish market and face its competitors. To do this, it has just hired Álvaro Hermoso, according to what it says. People Fundsas sales manager with the aim of focusing on Spain and Portugal, although he will work from the Milan office. This is a first step in an attempt to offer a more personalised service to his Spanish clients at a time when all the major managers are focusing their efforts on the distribution of index products and ETFs.
Spain is no exception and all groups are trying to gain market share in a segment that, together with alternative products, will become key to the growth of assets in the coming years.
BlackRock dominates the Spanish market, since of the more than 46 billion euros that Larry Fink’s company has managed in volume in our country, the majority comes from its passive vehicles. In Europe, it also leads the ranking of wealth managers under its specialized brand iShares, with 834 billion euros, according to Morningstar data from the end of July.
In this ranking, Vanguard ranks fifth, with $282 billion, despite the fact that in the United States it ranks first, with $8.8 trillion.followed by Fidelity (which also has a passive lineup), with $4.13 billion, and iShares, with $2.93 billion.
DWS and Amundi also have a significant share of their volume in passive funds, an area also promoted by companies such as Fidelity or JP Morgan AM, leader in the distribution of actively managed ETFs.
Proximity to clients has become a key element in the development of international firms’ activities. Vanguard therefore trusts Hermoso, who has extensive experience at the giant State Street Global Advisors, where he also maintained relationships with Spanish clients, to trying to achieve a share of the Iberian market that matches its global size.
