Recent mergers of E*Trade's proprietary index fund line-up could indicate a shift in strategy for the online brokerage firm. Despite recently liquidating two funds and merging two others, the firm insists that it is committed to providing customers with a comprehensive slate of funds.
However, the mergers are clearly linked to strategic changes taking place at the firm. "There will be a number of things coming up that we're not quite ready to share the details of yet," said Liat Rorer, head of investment products at E*Trade.
While Rorer would not divulge details of E*Trade's impending plans, she did say that it is considering including actively-managed funds in its line-up.
Broadly, E*Trade is looking to provide an array of investment products and services. To that end, the firm has developed separate account and basket product offerings.
Since their February launch, managed accounts have gotten off to a bang, said Rorer. "We're very happy with the progress that we've made, that the product has sold well," she said. Rorer declined comment on the number of accounts or assets under management in the new products.
