Insights into Horizons: Continuous Innovation in the Canadian ETF Market (EP.49)

On today’s episode, we are joined by Jaime Purvis, Executive Vice President at Horizons ETFs. Having been the company’s third ever employee, he has worked at the company for nearly 24 years and provides an in-depth inside look into how Horizons has come to have the reputation of being ahead of the curve in the Canadian ETF market. He takes us through some of Horizons history, how they got into ETFs, as well as giving some insights into how these products were chosen. Given the instability of the market today, it is important not only to innovate, but also to leverage experience when creating ETFs, which is what Horizons seeks to do. With such high levels of unpredictability, they aim to provide their clients with as much knowledge as they can to make informed decisions, especially given the Canadian national budget proposal, which will likely affect ETFs across the board greatly. Along with this, Horizons has also created a variety of ETFs, based on products they anticipate will soon play a huge role in daily lives, such as robotics and AI. Despite casting this wide net, these decisions are still made with careful consideration, drawing on the company’s extensive knowledge pool. This ability to continually innovate has put them at the forefront of the Canadian ETF market. To gain more insight into the world of ETFs and Horizons, join us today!

Key Points From This Episode:

• How Horizons has swap structure works and why these swaps should not be feared. [0:06:55.0]
• What the rationale behind the Canadian government swap-based ETF targeting is. [0:11:45.0]
• What the redeemer’s methodology is and the effect that is has. [0:16:08.0]
• What some of the risks associated with the swap-based ETF structure are. [0:23:56.0]
• The situations where it does not make sense to have a swap-based ETF. [0:28:43.0]
• How Horizons chooses their thematic ETFs. [0:30:35.0]
• What the deciding factors in closing a stock down are. [0:36:29.0]
• Why it is becoming increasingly difficult for starter ETFs to launch. [0:39:20.0]
• And much more!