We’re off to the races. After a huge number of nominations across multiple categories, the finalists for the ETF.com Annual ETF Awards are here.
The list of people worthy of achievement awards for their contribution to the ETF industry is nothing short of impressive this year. The U.S. ETF market is entering its 27th year since the launch of the very first fund, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), and along the way, many have stood out as thought leaders, innovators, traders and product experts. This year’s finalists speak to the caliber of folks the ETF industry enlists.
2019 was a big year for ETFs, which had their second biggest asset haul ever in a calendar year, and saw all sorts of exciting innovation extending investor access to interesting areas of the market.
Finalists for the 2019 awards are listed below and include best-in-class ETFs across asset classes as well as issuers who’ve stood out amid a growing number of fund providers. There’s even a selection of creative trading symbols for the best new ETF ticker, because that’s just downright fun. (Please note that Service Provider awards are still in the nomination process; more details below.)
The nomination period closed Jan. 4, and award winners will be announced in March. More details on that event coming soon. Stay tuned.
Before we get to the finalists, a quick recap about the awards:
Methodology
ETF.com Award winners are selected in a three-part process designed to leverage the insights and opinions of leaders throughout the ETF industry.
Step 1
The awards process begins with open nominations, which ran from Dec. 4, 2019, to Jan. 4, 2020. Self-nominations are accepted. Nominators may nominate in as many categories as they like. You cannot win if you are not nominated, and no nominations will be accepted after the deadline. There are no exceptions to these rules.
Step 2
Following the open nominations process, the ETF.com Awards Nominating Committee—made up of ETF.com editorial staff—reviews nominations. Nominations are screened for eligibility (appropriate timing and category). If more than five unique entries are received in the nominations process, the members of the Nominating Committee will force-rank their top five, resulting in a final slate for each category. Votes will be resolved on a majority basis, and ties broken where possible with head-to-head runoff votes. If ties cannot be broken, more than five finalists are allowed. The Nomination Committee will complete its work by Jan. 10, 2020. Shortly thereafter, the nominees will be published on ETF.com.
Step 3
Winners among these finalists will be selected by a majority vote of the ETF.com Awards Selection Committee, a group of independent ETF experts from across the ETF community. Committee members will recuse themselves from voting in any category in which they or their firms appear as finalists. Ties will be decided where possible with head-to-head runoff votes. Voting will be complete by Jan. 31, 2019, but results will be kept confidential until they are announced in March, and published in the April ETF Report. Details about the awards event will be forthcoming.
2019 Awards Selection Committee: ETFs & Issuers
Kim Arthur, Main Management
Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg Intelligence
Ben Blaisdell, US Trust
John Davi, Astoria Advisors
Emily Doak, Charles Schwab Investment Advisory
Debbie Fuhr, ETFGI
Nate Geraci, ETF Prime/ETF Store
Matt Hougan, Inside ETFs
Ben Johnson, Morningstar
Elisabeth Kashner, FactSet
Ben Lavine, 3D Asset Management
Tom Lydon, ETFtrends.com
Tyler Mordy, Forstrong Global Asset Management
Todd Rosenbluth, CFRA
Dan Weiskopf, ETF Think Tank
