Discounted exchange-traded fund provider Vanguard now tops the field of leading ETF providers among advisors in another category: favorable impressions.
According to a new Cogent Research report, 60% of the advisors included in Cogent's study view Vanguard very favorably, more positively than any other ETF provider. iShares, while still the dominant market share leader, now ranks fourth in favorability among current brand users, behind Vanguard, WisdomTree, StateStreet/SPDR and First Trust.
“Favorable impression is a key component of brand equity, and is vital to a firm’s potential for future consideration and growth,” stated Tony Ferreira, managing director at Cogent Research. “Vanguard’s strong impression scores correlates well with the firm’s recent sales success, and our results indicate that the firm is well positioned for future growth.”
Unsurprisingly, the report also revealed that Vanguard received top marks for “good value for the money” and “fee transparency” among other attributes.
Meanwhile, iShares still owns the key categories of “leader in the ETF industry” and “offers products with consistent liquidity,” although the gap with rivals is decreasing as other providers have seen improving perceptions in these areas.
Cogent's annual survey polled over 1,700 financial advisors across all channels with at least $5 million in assets under management.
