Jefferies, Manulife venture into the ETF market

Two major financial services firms — an investment banking company and a an insurer — have revealed their intentions to get into the exchange-traded fund business. Jefferies Asset Management LLC, a unit of Jefferies & Company Inc., the principal operating subsidiary of Jefferies Group Inc., filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Aug. 21 seeking permission to roll out at least two ETFs. Subsidiaries of Manulife Financial Corp. also filed papers with the SEC on Aug. 21 to offer its own family of exchange-traded funds. Those subsidiaries are John Hancock Advisers LLC, John Hancock Investment Management Services LLC and MFC Global Investment Management LLC. The decision by Manulife to get into the ETF business makes sense, because it can make use of existing distribution capabilities, according to mutual fund consultant Geoff Bobroff. Jefferies’ interest in ETFs, however, is more surprising, he said. As an investment banking firm, it doesn’t have the built-in distribution network as does the typical asset manager, Mr. Bobroff said. Representatives from both Manulife and Jefferies were unavailable for comment.