A trade group representing exchange traded funds is hoping to open shop by mid-February. The organization will be called The ETF Council, and a handful of providers have already become members, although no names were disclosed at this point.

The group is founded by Irving Straus of Straus Corporate Communications, who also founded the No-Load Mutual Fund Association over 20 years ago.

"We're registered, got the logos, and the whole logistics are in place. Now, we're gathering members. The grunt work's been done," Straus told The MFWire. "We expect to be full-blown public in mid-February, at the latest."

The ETF Council will have two main functions, according to Straus. The first will be to "proactively market" on behalf of the ETF industry. The second will be to react to regulatory scrutiny.

"The ETF industry has had a bonanza in asset gathering. But this wont go on forever, and these companies need to be in a position to market ETFs in the future," Straus added.

The group wants to take over ETF responsibilities from the Investment Company Institute, claiming that the ICI is too busy with mutual funds to spend proper time on ETF advancement.

"The ICI does a great job on statistics, but it's not going to be out teaching the advisors in Richmond, Virginia on the value of ETFs," Straus said.

The timing for the group may be perfect, as the popularity of ETFs continues to rise, along with recent scrutiny over leveraged and inverse ETFs. 

Edited by: Daniel Tovrov


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