Asset managers continue to favour brand campaigns in Europe

The number of advertisers promoting ETFs dropped to its lowest figure since the start of 2020, data by Fundamental Monitor shows

Key points:

• Brand campaigns made up 44% of all advertising in Q1 2023
• The promotion of ESG made up only 11% of all advertising in Q1, its lowest figure since Q1 2021
• At six advertisers, the number of advertisers promoting ETFs dropped to its lowest figure since the start of 2020

Brand campaigns continue to be the most popular advertising purpose in Europe, data by Fundamental Monitor revealed.

Brand campaigns made up 44% of all advertising in Q1 2023, down slightly from the 46% seen in Q4. Thought leadership campaigns accounted for 30% of asset managers’ advertising in Q1 (up from 23% in Q4) and fund promotion stood at 25% (down from 30%).

During Q1, the promotion of ESG made up only 11% of all advertising in Q1, its lowest figure since Q1 2021. Fixed income saw its share of overall advertising increasing slightly from 10% to 11%, as did equities which rose from 2% to 5%. Multi asset accounted for 5% of all advertising, its highest share since Q1 2021.

While the number of asset managers advertising fixed income remained unchanged at 16 advertisers, there were less advertisers promoting all the other key strategies. At 6 advertisers, the number of advertisers promoting ETFs dropped to its lowest figure since the start of 2020, while the number of asset managers advertising ESG fell significantly from 43 in Q4 to 29 in Q1.

Below are some examples of the campaigns that were in market in Europe during Q1 2023:

Brand campaign – Winton

Insights – Northern Trust

Fund promotion – Capital Group

Equities – Federated Hermes

Fixed income – Nordea Asset Management