“It’s an important area of focus,” Chemouny said at the Paris Summit. He told delegates that a lot of investment managers have been increasing their range of ETFs recently. “The ETF business grew significantly first in the US – which offers tax advantages for ETFs – and then everywhere in the world. We don’t have the same tax framework but many firms are going into ETFs,” he said. “Every day an announcement about a new active ETF is being launched by an asset manager.”

“We are not launching a range of ETFs for the pleasure of doing it. We are always focusing on the market climate. We will participate in the party, but in a very selective manner,” Chemouny said at the Paris Summit.

An ETF is a basket of securities such as stocks and/or bonds that are held in a single fund that is bought or sold on an exchange. The market has surged in recent years as investors and advisors have sought lower-cost ways of obtaining market exposure.

In the US, ETFs offer superior tax efficiency through so-called “in-kind” redemptions that minimise capital gains tax. While in the EU, Irish-domiciled (UCITS) ETFs are favoured, as Ireland has a range of tax treaties which can, for instance, reduce withholding taxes on US dividends to 15 per cent.

US-headquartered investment managers , a subsidiary of Natixis Investment Managers, whose CEO Bruno Poulin attended the Paris Summit, is an exchange-traded funds specialist. See more here about Ossiam.

Natixis Investment Managers, which is headquartered in Paris and Boston, has more than $1.5 trillion in assets under management.