JPMorgan nabs ETF veteran after Global X shake-up

JPMorgan Asset Management is bringing aboard exchange trade fund veteran Jon Maier after his departure from $51bn ETF manager Global X as part of a wave of executive exits.

Maier will start on March 18 as chief ETF strategist and will lead a new division dubbed ETF Insights, JPMorgan said in a statement. He previously worked as chief investment officer for Global X, a New York subsidiary of Seoul-based Mirae Asset, and rose to prominence as an ETF strategist at Merrill Lynch overseeing about $50bn.

“Very few in the industry have the tangible, hands-on experience in the way that Jon has, and we believe that all investors will benefit from his deep knowledge and development of this platform,” said JPMorgan Asset Management’s global head of ETF solutions Bryon Lake, to whom Maier will report.

Maier’s move to JPMorgan ensconces him in the group’s rapidly growing ETF business, which now manages about $160bn in global assets. JPMorgan has had particular success with active ETFs such as the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPI), which has amassed more than $33bn since launching in May 2020 and is now the largest active ETF in the market.

The ETF Insights programme is modelled on the company’s 20-year-old Market Insights platform led by chief global strategist David Kelly. The initiative was meant to “help bring clarity to a fast-growing, but still unfamiliar, sector for many investors”, JPMorgan said in a statement.

ETFs have been all the rage among US investors, amassing about $2tn in net new dollars from 2021 to the end of 2023, according to data from Morningstar. Investors have withdrawn about $1tn from mutual funds in that time.

Maier left Global X after the ousting of former chief executive Luis Berruga alongside chief operating officer John Belanger and head of finance Ronnie Riven. The manager has named Ryan O’Connor as its new chief executive and he will take the reins on April 8.