Gerd Kommer and LGIM launch “All-Cap-All-Market” Multifactor-Equity ETF

22 June 2023

Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) and German asset manager Gerd Kommer Invest (GKI) today announced the launch of the L&G Gerd Kommer Multifactor Equity UCITS ETF.

The fund aims to give investors access to a diversified investment strategy and its underlying index was developed in close cooperation between the two companies. The launch of this ETF is another important milestone for LGIM as it continues to expand its presence in continental Europe and internationally.

The ETF listed on Deutsche Börse Xetra on June 21st and is available on Scalable Capital’s Broker, one of Europe’s leading investment platforms. For those looking to invest in a savings plan option via Scalable, no transaction fee will be charged for this specific ETF (subject to certain terms & conditions). LGIM will also seek to make the ETF available to investors in Germany, Austria and Switzerland over the coming days via all known trading platforms and online brokers both as a lump sum and as a savings plan option.

The ETF is characterised by the following features:

• Innovative approach to country weighting: Individual countries weights are determined as the average of their market capitalisation and economic output, i.e., gross domestic product. This combines the advantages of these two different weighting methods, particularly leading to a reduction in the “US concentration risk”. To date this is the only ETF in the DACH market which takes into account the GDP in relation to country weighting.
• “All-Cap-All-Market”: The ETF will invest in both developed and emerging markets, covering the entire investable universe including small, mid and large caps.
• Multifactor Investing: Increased exposure to five established factors specifically Size, Value, Quality, Investment and Momentum.

The underlying Solactive index consists of around 5,000 individual companies which undergo a systematic rebalancing process on a quarterly basis.

The L&G Gerd Kommer Multifactor Equity UCITS ETF is based on the philosophy of Gerd Kommer’s “world portfolio concept,” which he developed over the course of his 30-year career in the financial services sector. The concept aims to minimise the influence of emotional reactions on investment decisions and pursues a scientific and rule-based approach instead, based on proven economic theory and empirical analysis.

Investors will be able to choose between an accumulating and a quarterly distributing share class. The ETF is categorised as Article 8 under SFDR.

Gerd Kommer, CEO at Gerd Kommer Invest: “We are pleased to collaborate with LGIM, a very experienced partner when it comes to the development, launch and market implementation of ETFs. The partnership has enabled us to launch a strategy that draws on our 30+ years of capital markets expertise, research capabilities, client experience and our scientific knowledge of wealth creation. We believe this proposition should allow certain investors to cover their equity allocation in one single product. To date, this is a unique proposition in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.”

Aanand Venkatramanan, Head of ETFs, EMEA, at LGIM: “With this partnership, we have combined our respective strengths to design an ETF solution that does not yet exist in the German-speaking ETF market. It will leverage Gerd Kommer’s strong brand locally, combining the investment philosophy of their “world portfolio concept” with our extensive experience in development and distribution of ETFs. The ETF is characterised by an active bottom-up approach and the active development of investment strategies, which will allow us to help meet the evolving needs of our clients and to differentiate our offering.”