The parent company of the Toronto Stock Exchange has already completed a major deal this year: its acquisition of ETF education company VettaFi.
According to TMX Group CEO John McKenzie, the deal helps expand the exchange-traded fund business globally.
“The exchange-traded fund is basically one of the most important innovations in investing in the history of the market — at least in the last 20 (to) 30 years,” McKenzie told CNBC's “ETF Edge” this week. “What we were really looking to do was … dig deeper into providing more support to our customers.”
Although ETF activity has slowed from its 2022 records, activity in 2023 is still higher than previous years, according to iShares data.
McKenzie plans to leverage the VettaFi acquisition to facilitate the creation of more ETFs.
“ETF providers can create great new products and solutions so they can reach a broader investment audience,” McKenzie said. “This is the only one-two punch of what we do with this investment.”
TMX's ETF screener lists 1,264 ETFs and ETF-related funds on the Toronto Stock Exchange as of Friday.
With VettaFi in the exchange's tool belt, McKenzie hopes to create new ETFs that focus on Canada's economic strengths and how it can reach international investors.
“We want to be more global than local,” McKenzie added. “She is a great asset to help us build not just in the United States, not just in Canada, but around the world.”
Since the acquisition was completed on January 2, tmx Shares rose 11%.
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