Columbia Threadneedle Investments has received regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) for four CT QR Series Equity Active UCITS ETFs – US, European, Global, and Emerging Markets.
The launch begins with the CT QR Series US Equity Active UCITS ETF and CT QR Series European Equity Active UCITS ETF, which Columbia Threadneedle plans to list on the Deutsche Börse Xetra, SIX Swiss Exchange and the London Stock Exchange in the coming weeks. The Global and Emerging Market Active ETFs will follow shortly, completing the firm’s initial core equity range.
Michaela Collet Jackson, Head of Distribution, EMEA, at Columbia Threadneedle, says: “This is an important moment for Columbia Threadneedle as we execute our growth strategy. Expanding our Active ETFs offering to Europe is a natural evolution of our global product strategy, leveraging our proven US track record to meet growing client demand for transparent, cost-efficient and truly active solutions.”
The CT QR Series Equity Active ETFs build on a proven track-record of Columbia Threadneedle’s US-based Active ETF range. The Funds are powered by the scale and efficiency of Columbia Threadneedle’s proprietary quantitative research and informed by real-time insights from the firm’s industry-leading Global Fundamental Research team of more than 200 analysts. The ETFs are designed to be core active equity allocations in clients’ portfolios.
Commenting on the upcoming launch, Matteo Andreetto, Head of Intermediary Client Coverage, Europe, at State Street Investment Management, says: “ETF demand is rising across Europe and globally, highlighting the growing appeal of ETFs as a cost-effective investment solution. We’re proud to support Columbia Threadneedle’s launch of these ETFs through our ETF as a Service offering.”
The firm writes that Christopher Lo, portfolio manager of the new series, will apply the same rigorous approach to the new series as he has previously for the US listed ETFs, with added enhancements for the European market. The “QR Series” investment process combines quantitative and fundamental insight with the dynamic attributes of a traditional active solution:
Research: Combining 20+ years of proven quantitative modelling with Global Fundamental Research to identify stocks with the highest potential to outperform, avoiding those likely to lag.
Rank: Leveraging these combined ratings the team ranks the stocks from ‘strong buy to strong sell’, excluding those stocks expected to underperform, reducing the universe by up to two thirds. This results in a portfolio holding stocks the team has strong conviction in and is aligned to article 8 under SFDR.
Recalibrate: The firm’s rules-based, benchmark-aware portfolio construction minimises sector and geographic bias, letting stock selection drive alpha. The portfolio is rebalanced twice a year to manage costs, with daily reviews enabling a quick response to stock downgrades.
The firm writes that this disciplined methodology takes advantage of both human insight and objective data analysis to build robust, transparent portfolios with holdings around 35 per cent of the index constituents by number. This results in a strategy with a 2 per cent to 4 per cent tracking error, which offers a truly active approach, with a better risk-adjusted return than the benchmark at an attractive price point.
Christopher Lo, Senior Portfolio Manager at Columbia Threadneedle, says: “We believe our CT QR Series Equity Active ETFs are unique – built with purpose, conviction and repeatability. This launch is a natural extension of our highly successful US-based ETF range, and we are excited to bring this differentiated, research-backed solution to European investors who are seeking cost-efficient active equity exposure which targets long-term outperformance.”
The CT QR Series Equity Active ETFs are built using the firm’s proprietary quantitative model, evaluating every stock in the investible universe based on customised peer group definitions. Only the top-rated names in each sector are selected, resulting in a meaningful deviation of holdings relative to the benchmark. For example, this may result in excluding stocks which have a top 10 weighting in the index, proving the conviction given to the underlying research.
“This is what conviction means to us,” adds Christopher Lo, “we are not chasing tracking error targets; we are delivering alpha through stock selection.”
Christine Cantrell, Head of Active ETFs, Distribution, EMEA, at Columbia Threadneedle, says: “Investors are increasingly seeking strategies that combine performance potential with transparency, liquidity and cost-efficiency, requiring investment managers to deliver smarter, client-driven innovation. Our new UCITS-compliant Active ETF range addresses exactly that: proven alpha from Columbia Threadneedle’s US strategies, now tailored to meet the regulatory and portfolio needs of European investors.”
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