Legal & General Investment Management acquired European exchange-traded fund platform Canvas from ETF Securities.
LGIM will acquire $2.7 billion in assets under management and 17 strategies across equity, fixed-income and commodities.
The U.K. and Ireland-based undertakings for collective investments in transferable securities platform is listed on a number of stock exchanges and is licensed for distribution in 14 countries. The Canvas platform manages investments for a number of ETFs and has an open architecture structure. That will remain for different products and the large majority of ETFs to be managed and distributed by LGIM, said a news release. Further details were not available.
"The ETF market is one of the fastest growing segments in asset management," said LGIM CEO Mark Zinkula in the release. "A number of long-term macro trends, including the increasing use of passive vehicles and the drive to digitalization, will lead to a growing demand for ETF products."
LGIM has $431 billion in its index business and Mr. Zinkula said the firm is well positioned to leverage the scale "to develop ETF solutions that complement our existing range of index funds."
A team of employees at Canvas with specialist ETF skills will join LGIM as part of the deal.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals. A spokeswoman for LGIM could not immediately be reached for comment.
Earlier this week,WisdomTree Investments agreed to buy ETF Securities' European exchange-traded commodity, currency and short-and-leveraged business.