May 28, 2026
An Interview with HANSAINVEST on its Active ETF Strategy
Dr. Jörg W. Stotz, CEO, HANSAINVEST Hanseatische Investment-GmbH
You recently had your products listed on Xetra. Why was Xetra chosen?
The ETF share class is intended to give a customer group with an affinity for stock exchanges and ETFs access to the established proud@work strategy from Aramea Asset Management. To reach the largest possible portion of this target group, you need the right trading venues – and Xetra is one of the first ports of call for this in Germany. But beyond that, Xetra is also the market leader in Europe for exchange-traded funds. The reactions from other European countries, which we received in the course of launching the share class, have also shown us once again how important this is. These reflect an effect that we are also observing more and more frequently with products like the ELTIF: Established strategies from the German fund location are increasingly and more easily getting the opportunity to become successful across national borders. In this respect, listing on Xetra was a logical step.
What characterizes your newly listed products? What distinguishes them from other ETF issuers?
The proud@work strategy from Aramea Asset Management invests in national and international stocks of companies where employees are proud to work – a factor that has been proven to have a positive effect on long-term corporate development. The strategy is based on data and analyses from the research and consulting institute Great Place to Work®, which supports companies worldwide in developing a trust-based and attractive workplace culture. In addition, a comprehensive fundamental analysis of the business model and financial key figures is carried out for each investment.
In terms of content, this strategy therefore has a veritable unique selling proposition and is particularly interesting for investors who wish to diversify their portfolio with an established and actively managed satellite strategy. We see similar potential, for example, for niches away from the efficient and large stock markets, for thematic investments, or active fixed-income strategies. They can hold their own in the competitive ETF market with their unique selling propositions, whereas with passive ETFs on large indices, the unique selling proposition is often the price.
In your opinion, which major trends will shape the ETF landscape in the coming years?
In my view, it is clear that the ETF market will continue to grow and that the ETF itself will thus remain a persistent trend. There are several reasons for this. On the one hand, for younger investors in particular, the ETF is the preferred access route to investments. On the other hand, the ETF has several structural advantages: liquidity, for example, or improved transparency. Furthermore, the ETF is interesting for private and institutional investors because it represents shortened distribution channels.
Active ETFs are another significant trend. I primarily see ETFs as an access route – and this can lead to either passive or active strategies. The more this understanding prevails in the market, the more active ETFs there will be. Because when investors want to invest in certain niches, active management is indispensable – that brings us back to the unique selling propositions of certain strategies. Moreover, only active management can generate real outperformance compared to market returns or score with optimized Sharpe ratios.
A third major trend also arises from understanding the ETF as an alternative access route, but from a provider's perspective: Fund boutiques will increasingly complete the access routes to their strategies with ETFs. This also makes perfect sense: At many neobrokers or direct banks, certain strategies of independent asset managers are simply not tradable because they were previously only investable as classic investment funds. Independent fund initiators are therefore limiting their sales opportunities and target groups if they do not extend access to their strategies to the stock exchange. In this respect, smaller asset managers will also increasingly understand and use the ETF as a structure.
Thank you very much for the interview!