Chris McHaney has taken over from Hyun Su Ahn as executive vice-president, head of investment management and strategy with Global X Investments Canada Inc., the firm announced Tuesday.
McHaney joins Global X after two decades with BMO Global Asset Management, which included 15 years as an architect of the company’s ETFs.
In his new role, McHaney will oversee the management of Global X’s product suite, which includes 125 ETFs. He will also contribute to market commentary, macroeconomic research and ETF insights.
Ahn will become executive vice-president, head of product and operations, and continue to lead product development initiatives.
McHaney said in an interview that he’s looking forward to working at a firm like Global X that “has the ability to scale up significantly” while having “a strong base of assets” as the No. 4 provider in the ETF industry in Canada.
According to National Bank Financial Markets, Global X has 7.3% ETF market share as of July 31 as measured by assets under management (AUM), Vanguard Investments Canada has 14.0%, BMO has 23.0% and RBC iShares has 27.4%.
“I have a lot of experience in the ETF industry, so I’m excited to bring that to Global X and get them to the next level of growth as well,” McHaney said.
McHaney has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, including in portfolio management, investment strategy, and policy, product development and sales.
Fifteen years of his career have focused on the ETF industry, including working on options-based strategies for ETFs such as covered calls.
“ETFs have brought a lot of innovation to the investment industry in general. When I started in this industry, it was pure index tracking mandates, pure passive mandates on the large indices, and that was about it,” McHaney said.
“Now there’s a variety of solutions, [and more than 1,100] ETFs listed in Canada now serving all kinds of different needs.”
Prior to joining Global X, McHaney was director and portfolio manager with BMO GAM, where he oversaw the management of both passive and active strategies, derivative overlays, foreign exchange exposures and cross-asset portfolios. He was also the vice-chair of BMO GAM’s trading oversight committee.
Having helped BMO GAM build its ETF lineup from the ground up, McHaney said he plans to similarly help Global X expand its reach and suite of products.
“I was part of BMO’s ETF team when they started from zero, so I’m very familiar with that sort of startup type mentality: a small ETF provider growing up to something very large in the industry,” he said.
“Global X, although already very large … has that ability to continue growing outsized within the industry.”
Rohit Mehta, president and CEO of Global X, said he’s delighted to welcome “one of the ETF industry’s most respected leaders and strategists” to the company.
“With Chris on our executive team, I’m confident that we’re charting a course that will see us achieve our business growth goals, alongside the growth of our investors’ portfolios,” Mehta added.
These goals include more than doubling the firm’s AUM over the next five years, Mehta previously told Investment Executive.