ETFs have had the most extraordinary year in 2020, with assets flowing in across the entire range of products and new launches bringing European investors an even wider range of access to the transparent, liquid, low-cost investments that ETFs represent. 

STOXX Qontigo: Best Index Provider (ESG ETFs) – Qontigo, part of the Deutsche Börse Group, took sustainability to another level in 2020, with the arrival of Rodolphe Bocquet (pictured) as Global Head of Sustainable Investment for the firm and the establishment of an internal system that would allow the design of a long-term sustainable investing strategy across the company.

Tradeweb: Best ETF Platform – 2020 was full of extremes says Tradeweb’s Head of Equities (Europe) Adriano Pace (pictured), with the unprecedented volatility in the early part of the year and then the market rally through the second part, as news of Coronavirus vaccines and the US election results came in.

Euronext: Best European Exchange for Listing ETFs – 2020 was a very strong year for Euronext’s ETF business, with a significant increase in ETF trading volumes. On-screen trading in 2020 was up 37 per cent from 2019, representing over EUR75 billion, and there were 142 new ETF listings over the course of the year.

Optiver: Best Overall ETF Liquidity Provider/Market Maker – Over the last few years, Optiver has significantly improved and expanded its ETF pricing, risk warehousing and coverage, says Jean-Marie Tine, Head of Institutional Trading Delta 1 at the firm. With a 35-year history in derivatives market making, Optiver started its ETF business nearly 10 years ago by providing liquidity on-exchange in a small range of liquid ETFs. In 2016 the proprietary trading firm decided to use its expertise to build a strong base to become one of Europe’s leading ETF liquidity providers. 

Invesco: Best Capital Markets Team & Best Global Equity ETF Issuer (USD1bn-USD5bn) – Q&A with Gary Buxton, Head of EMEA ETFs & Indexed Strategies, Invesco.

London Stock Exchange: Best European Exchange for Trading ETFs – Ivan Gilmore, Head of Exchange Traded Products, Fixed Income & Alternatives, London Stock Exchange comments that MiFID II made ETFs MiFID instruments and as such brought in pre- and post-trade transparency for them. “We are aware that it is a fragmented and competitive landscape,” he says. “There are lots of issuers competing with products, exchanges competing for listings, and platforms competing for trading away from those venues.

Amundi: Best ESG ETF Issuer (USD1bn+) & Best ETF Distributor – Q&A with Fannie Wurtz Head of Amundi ETF, Indexing & Smart Beta.

State Street: Best ETF Back Office Tech Provider & Best Overall ETF Administrator – ETFs have had a good pandemic, says Ciarán Fitzpatrick, head of ETF servicing for Europe for State Street, which is, as he says, something you can’t say very often.

Truss Edge: Best ETF Middle Office Tech Provider – Another example of being in the right place at the right time has come for middle and back-office support firm Truss Edge, whose adaptability for thematic ETFs has seen its business grow 120 per cent over 2020.

Jane Street: Best Market Maker/Authorised Participant (Commodity ETFs) & Best Market Maker/Authorised Participant (Fixed Income ETFs) – Q&A with Ian Shea, Head of Fixed Income, Europe and Asia, Jane Street.

BNY Mellon: Best ETF Administrator (Equity ETFs) & Best ETF Custodian – Jeff McCarthy, Segment Head, Exchange-Traded Funds, BNY Mellon believes that the firm’s holistic approach to providing ETF solutions lies behind their two awards this year.