Record number of fixed income and ETFs advertisers in North America

However, asset managers didn’t allocate a record share of their overall advertising to promoting these asset classes, data by Fundamental Monitor shows

Key points:

• In the third quarter, 28 fixed income advertisers and 31 ETF advertisers were in market, the highest seen since the start of 2020.
• Fixed income advertising accounted for 5% of total advertising in Q3, up from a record-low 2% in Q2, while the share of ETF advertising dropped from 56% in Q2 to 39% in Q3.
• Brand campaigns accounted for 38% of all asset management advertising, followed by fund promotion at 36% and thought leadership promotion at 21%.

A record number of asset managers were promoting fixed income and ETFs in North America during Q3 2024, according to data by Fundamental Monitor.

In the third quarter, 28 fixed income advertisers (up from 18 in Q2) and 31 ETF advertisers (up from 29 in Q2) were in market, the highest seen since the start of 2020 when Fundamental Monitor started monitoring asset managers’ advertising activity globally.

However, the record numbers of asset managers actively advertising these two asset classes hasn’t translated in record-high shares of total advertising dedicated to the promotion of fixed income and ETFs.

Fixed income advertising accounted for 5% of total advertising in Q3, up from a record-low 2% in Q2, but only a third of the 15% seen in Q1 2024. The share of ETF advertising dropped from 56% in Q2 to 39% in Q3.

Brand campaigns accounted for 38% of all asset management advertising, followed by fund promotion at 36% and thought leadership promotion at 21%. Event promotion and the promotion of investment tools accounted for the remaining 5%. This is a significant change from Q2, when fund promotion accounted for 54%, followed by insights promotion at 24% and brand campaigns at 21%.

Data by Alphix Solutions shows that investors consumed less fixed income and ETF content during Q3 compared to the 365-day rolling average. For fixed income content, consumption was between 21% and 37% lower than average, depending on the week, while ETF content consumption was between 23% and 60% lower than average.

Equities content consumption was up by 12% during the first week of Q3 but was then lower than average during the rest of the quarter by between 8% and 29%.

Below are some examples of the type of campaigns that were in market in North America in Q3 2024:

Fixed income – Nuveen

ETFs – Bitwise

Brand campaigns – Merrill Lynch

Fund promotion – Global X