‘One of the most important innovations in investing’: TMX CEO jumps deeper into ETFs

The Toronto Stock Exchange's parent company has already completed a major deal this year: its acquisition of ETF education company VettaFi.

According to TMX Group CEO John McKenzie, the deal helps expand its exchange-traded fund business globally.

"The exchange-traded fund is essentially one of the most important innovations in investing in the marketplace history — at least in the last 20 [to] 30 years," McKenzie told CNBC's "ETF Edge" this week. "What we were really looking to do is … get deeper into providing more support to our clients."

Even though ETF activity has cooled off from its 2022 records, action in 2023 was still above previous years, according to iShares data.

McKenzie plans to utilize the VettaFi acquisition to facilitate more ETF creation.

"ETF providers can create new products and great solutions so that they can reach a broader investing audience," McKenzie said. "That's the one two punch of what we're doing with that investment."

TMX's ETF Screener lists 1,264 ETFs and ETF-related funds on the Toronto Stock Exchange as of Friday.

With VettaFi in the exchange's tool belt, McKenzie hopes to create new ETFs focusing on Canada's economic strengths and how they can reach international investors.

"We want to be more global than local," added McKenzie. "This is a great assetto help us build not just in the U.S., not just in Canada, but around the world."

Since the acquisition was completed on Jan. 2, TMX shares are up 11%.

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