New Vanguard regional ETF capital markets lead

Vanguard Australia has appointed a new lead for the Asia Pacific region who will oversee ETF capital markets as the incumbent takes up another role within the firm.

Adam DeSanctis, who most recently had a stint in personalised indexing for financial adviser services, has relocated to Melbourne to assume the role of head of ETF capital markets for the Asia Pacific region.

DeSanctis was formerly based in Vanguard's Malvern, Pennsylvania headquarters and has been with the fund manager since June 2015.

He started out in Vanguard's accelerated development program before becoming an ETF capital market analyst.

DeSanctis replaces Minh Tieu, who relocated to Malvern to become the head of US equity operational risk.

He joined Vanguard in 2008, working across roles in portfolio management and trade execution of equity-indexed international portfolios.

Prior to his most recent role which he assumed in January 2020, Tieu led ETF capital markets in Hong Kong, helping expand Vanguard's ETF presence across Asia.

"We are delighted to welcome Adam to the Australian investment management team and the wealth of experience he brings and wish Minh every success as he embarks on his new role in our US business," Vanguard head of investments in Asia Pacific Duncan Burns said.

The local ETF market finished the end of the financial year with $146 billion in assets, according to Vanguard estimates.

Australian bond ETFs reported a sizable jump of 54% to $1.74 billion in the last 12 months. International bond ETFs had the biggest boost of 215% year on year to finish at $763 million.

"Although rising interest rates have created short-term pain for Australian investors, they have helped to improve long-term return expectations for bonds," said Burns.

"While bond prices typically reprice lower when interest rates rise, investors with a sufficient long-term investment horizon will ultimately be better off. Interestingly, despite the strong first half rally in global equity markets, demand for domestic fixed income - particularly bonds with high investment grade credit ratings - were the clear winner."