Nontransparent ETFs aren't really nontransparent, John Alshefski, senior vice president and managing director at SEI Investments, said at the 2020 Inside ETFs conference.
Instead, just call them active ETFs, said Alshefski, who started in the financial services industry 30 years ago, launching mutual fund families for SEI.
"We were one of the first early adopters of ETFs in 2002," Alshefski said. "We've seen it since its beginning. We've seen its evolution."
He said the appetite for nontransparent active ETFs "is going to be great," and that that he expects to see many advisors build portfolios with mutual funds and active ETFs side by side.
"This is a really exciting time for ETFs because not only are they getting good market acceptance as a product and their efficiency, but now with the advent of active etfs, I think there's a great opportunity to make this business even bigger," he said. "ETFs are a very efficient vehicle, and serve a great spot in many types of portfolios for investors, just like mutual funds can. In many regards, they are a better product."
