00:00Pictet has been around for over 200 years, and I ask this to every newcomer to the industry, why launch now?
00:08So we think it's the perfect time to launch, and we're launching because of demand from clients.
00:15It's a 220-year-old firm. I've been covering the U.S. market for the firm for over 20 years.
00:22We used to have a fly-in, fly-out model. We're new here in the U.S. with a local presence, five years running.
00:30And really, clients today, they want ETFs, and they want our products, and I think it's the perfect marriage.
00:38And it looks like you skipped the European ETF world as well.
00:41So you went straight from mutual funds in Europe to a U.S. ETF product.
00:47What's the thinking behind this, behind skipping that step?
00:49So it could come later, Europe. Obviously, that's our home turf.
00:55And we do have an international product, PQNT, PQuant, which I think is really interesting.
01:01You were just talking about PBOT, which invests in AI.
01:05And we have PQuant, which uses AI to invest.
01:09And this is in the international space.
01:11As far as I know, there's nothing out there like that.
01:14It's really innovative.
01:16That's 30 bps.
01:18And I think we're able to offer it at such a competitive price because the machine's doing a lot of the work,
01:24but they sit alongside these PhDs.
01:2780% of the investment team are PhDs.
01:30So I think that that does lend to our European heritage.
01:33And when I think of thematic ETFs, I think they have to have a shiny object moment where they just go like that and people look at them.
01:42You have 51 stocks in here, so it's definitely prime to possibly pop.
01:46What else do you say when you're trying to sell this as you're waiting for the returns to hopefully come?
01:51So we know a lot about themes.
01:54I'm not sure that the U.S. market's aware, but we are the actual OG of themes.
01:59We're the first one to launch it.
02:00When I joined the firm 24 years ago, I got my success with the firm by selling the water fund.
02:08That today is a $9 billion fund.
02:10But we know it takes time.
02:12So we want pop.
02:13Everyone wants pop.
02:14But we also, you know, we're long-term.
02:16It's a $70 billion franchise.
02:18There's 70 people that work in our megatrend investing.
02:22And P-Clean is one of the strategies that we're also promoting, which is a combination of single thematic strategies such as water, regen, global environmental, and clean energy.
02:35Well, that's what I wanted to talk about.
02:36You know, you have these two AI-flavored funds, and then you have the Cleaner Planet ETF.
02:41We know that ESG has been in an interesting spot over the last couple of years.
02:46The term itself became really politicized, troubled, polarized.
02:50Toxic, even.
02:51We could use all these different phrases.
02:53I know you have this longer-term focus and timeline that you're measuring success by.
02:58But talk about launching an ESG ETF in 2025, given that recent history.
03:04Sure.
03:04So ESG is in our DNA, and we're not going to hide away from that.
03:09That's who we are.
03:11It's fundamental.
03:12We're Swiss firms, so it would be kind of crazy if it wasn't.
03:14But I also see this as a tech play, so really looking for the companies that are innovating to protect us with what's happening in the environment.
03:24We don't need to see many more natural disasters to know that.
03:28It's the companies that transform the world that are going to be profitable.
03:32And really, our ultimate goal is always ESG is good to do, but we're really in the business to make money for our clients.
03:39You described peak debt as the OG in themes.
03:42You also have strength in emerging markets.
03:43What's the appetite for EM exposure right now, and is that next in your ETF offerings?
03:47That's exactly right.
03:48So those products should be launching.
03:50We have both an EM fixed income product that's coming to market and an equity product in Q1 next year.
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