Episode summary
ETFs to Watch From Morgan Stanley, Vanguard and ... Pzena? | Trillions
Trillions
· · 11 min · Hosts: Joel Weber, Eric Balchunas · Guests: Isabelle Lee
Summary
The hosts launched a new monthly segment built around three recent ETF debuts and framed it as a way to separate potential hits from launches that look harder to justify. Isabelle Lee joined to discuss one late but aggressive Bitcoin entrant, one unusual Vanguard international fund, and one expensive active value ETF from Pzena.
The Morgan Stanley Bitcoin ETF, MSBT, was presented as a two-years-late entrant that tries to compete on price, with a 14 basis point fee that undercuts Grayscale and BlackRock. Isabelle Lee argued Morgan Stanley can use its roughly 16,000 advisers and a large advisory base to keep assets in-house, while the host said the firm already has about 132 million in early flows. The discussion suggested more big-bank crypto products could follow, especially after regulators eased bank crypto rules and Vanguard allowed Bitcoin ETF tickers on its platform.
Vanguard’s VDG was treated as a notable but less flashy launch: an ex-U.S. developed-markets growth ETF with an 8 basis point fee and $15 million already gathered. Pzena’s PZLV, by contrast, drew skepticism as a 60 basis point active large-cap value fund in a crowded category, though its 41-stock portfolio and early performance gave it some chance to stand out.
Key takeaways
- Morgan Stanley’s MSBT tries to win Bitcoin ETF business on price, with a 14 basis point fee and a claimed 16,000-adviser distribution advantage.
- The host said MSBT already gathered about $132 million in about a week, which could push more big banks toward their own crypto products.
- Vanguard’s VDG offers strict ex-U.S. developed-markets growth exposure at 8 basis points, giving investors a cheap way to play the “sell America” trade.
- Pzena’s PZLV is a 60 basis point active large-cap value ETF in a crowded market, so the hosts questioned whether it can attract assets organically.
- The hosts said Vanguard letting Bitcoin ETF tickers on its platform likely satisfied some pent-up demand, but probably was not a major flow driver by itself.
Notable quotes
“Every month we're going to do an episode that is about three new tickers”
“they came in strong with the lowest fee ever. It's 14 basis points”
“I mean, that's like it's good to be the king, Joel. I mean, so long”
“This is like strictly everything but the US”
“The fee is 60 basis points. The manager will go try to identify undervalued stocks, blah blah blah”
How the episode opens
Welcome to Trillions. I'm Joel Weber. — And I'm Eric Balchunis. — Eric, we're going to try something new. Every month we're going to do an episode that is about three new tickers.
Yeah, people love tickers and we're going to give them what they want. Okay. People want to know what's going on, what are the tickers to invest in.
So this particular mini episode which will be once a month we'll look at the new launches. There's four ETFs that launch a day and in there there's going to be some really interesting launches both ones that got our attention ones that might be you know kind of wild cardish and then ones that were like scratching our head why did that even get filed and launch because it's hard out there. So these are just for investors to know all the new stuff coming out.
There's so much to look through. And when I travel around Joel and I give presentations, when I go to the retail direct events, they love tickers. They really just want to know the ETFs, what there is available to them because they're always just looking for ideas.
So, this is a way to get more tickers out to the people.
Joining us on this episode is Isabelle Lee, who's a cross asset reporter from Bloomberg News. She's got one that she wanted to talk about. — So excited. Of course, it's big. Should I say it now or is it a surprise?
Now. Let's hear it. MSBT. — Okay, that's the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin ETF. Seems like a little bit late to be launching an ETF that's about Bitcoin. Like there's a few of these others. Why? Why is Morgan — I sound so excited? Um because I wrote about it, which is why there's that bias.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- etf launches
- bitcoin etfs
- value investing
- asset management
- monthly etf screening
Companies and tickers mentioned
- MS
- Morgan Stanley
- The Vanguard Group
- Pzena Investment Management
Watch the episode
Watch “ETFs to Watch From Morgan Stanley, Vanguard and ... Pzena? | Trillions” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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