More equities advertising in APAC as ETF promotion falls

Asset managers dedicated more of their advertising budget to the promotion of equities and ESG during Q4 2023, according to data by Fundamental Monitor

Key points:

• Equities made up 24% of all asset management advertising during Q4, up from 5% a quarter earlier.
• At 26%, asset managers dedicated a larger portion of their advertising budget to brand promotion during Q4.
• Despite a huge increase in the share of advertising dedicated to the promotion of equities and ESG, there was only a small increase in the number of advertisers promoting equities and a decrease in the number of active ESG advertisers.

Asset managers have increased their equities and ESG promotion significantly in Q4 2023 compared to Q3, while the promotion of ETFs has decreased, data by Fundamental Monitor showed.

Equities made up 24% of all asset management advertising during Q4, up from 5% a quarter earlier. Meanwhile, the proportion of ESG advertising increased from 4% to 13% while the share of ETF promotion fell from 14% to 9% during the same period.

At 26%, asset managers dedicated a larger portion of their advertising budget to brand promotion during Q4, while the promotion of insights and funds was down by 7% and 17% respectively. Other forms of advertising (i.e., event promotion and investment tools) made up 12% of total advertising due to a large event promotion from Nomura Asset Management.

Despite a huge increase in the share of advertising dedicated to the promotion of equities and ESG, there was only a small increase in the number of advertisers promoting equities (from 17 to 18) and a decrease in the number of active ESG advertisers (from 16 to 12) compared to Q3.

Below are some examples of the type of campaigns that were in market in the APAC region during Q4 2023:

Equities – Franklin Templeton

ESG – Amundi Asset Management

Event promotion – Nomura Asset Management

Brand campaign – La Trobe Financial