TMX Group’s acquisition of RAFI Indices from Research Affiliates is more than an expansion of its index catalog. In an interview with Benzinga, Tom Hendrickson, president of TMX VettaFi, outlined how the company plans to use RAFI’s fundamental-indexing expertise, alongside its own technology and distribution capabilities, to expand its presence in the ETF and institutional indexing markets.
The transaction brings more than 90 RAFI indices, over 40 ETFs and more than $90 billion in ETF assets under TMX VettaFi, according to Hendrickson. Across global benchmarks and institutional mandates, RAFI represents about $182 billion in Assets Under Indexing (AUI).
“RAFI pioneered fundamental indexing by weighting companies by economic footprint, such as sales or cash flow, rather than market capitalization,” Hendrickson said. “RAFI brought world-class institutional research and factor methodologies that squarely fit into TMX VettaFi’s strategy and accelerate our growth trajectory.”
The transaction takes TMX VettaFi’s overall indexing platform from roughly $81 billion to $263 billion in pro-forma AUI, based on first-quarter 2026 figures.
From Market-Cap Weighting to Economic Fundamentals
The deal comes as ETF issuers increasingly look beyond traditional market-cap-weighted benchmarks for differentiated strategies.
Hendrickson said market concentration has helped drive demand for fundamental approaches.
“High market concentration in traditional market-cap benchmarks has driven strong demand for fundamentally weighted indices that rebalance based on actual economic footprints rather than price momentum,” he said.
He added that issuers are increasingly looking for “disciplined valuation, sales, and cash-flow screens to manage downside risk,” while also incorporating income-generation capabilities into core portfolios.
Still, VettaFi does not intend to overhaul the RAFI franchise.
“Our strategy is to preserve the flagship RAFI index suite completely intact,” Hendrickson said. “We are focused on investing additional resources to expand distribution, increase research visibility, and accelerate client access across global markets rather than consolidating or retiring existing strategies.”
For existing clients, the immediate transition is similarly limited.
“It is business as usual for all client relationships,” Hendrickson said, noting that existing licensing agreements and index-governance frameworks remain intact.
Where the ETF Opportunity Lies
The bigger opportunity could be taking RAFI’s established strategies to new investors and markets.
“Combining RAFI’s factor and fundamental strategies with TMX VettaFi’s calculation and distribution infrastructure accelerates new product commercialization,” Hendrickson said.
He pointed to active discussions around bringing RAFI strategies into Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia, while expanding access to value, income and factor-based strategies among institutional asset owners and wealth-management platforms.
Hendrickson also sees an opportunity to use VettaFi’s distribution network to give RAFI strategies greater visibility.
“By pairing RAFI’s suite with TMX VettaFi’s digital network—reaching over 1.9 million monthly site visitors and 90,000+ financial advisors annually—we can actively support their products, doubling down on distribution, and drive broader education around RAFI strategies,” he said.
VettaFi also has more than 250,000 investor behavioral profiles, which Hendrickson said can help issuers align RAFI-linked products with advisor demand.
From RAFI Indexes to Next-Generation Strategies
The acquisition could ultimately go beyond distributing the existing RAFI lineup.
“Yes,” Hendrickson said when asked whether VettaFi could combine RAFI’s methodologies with its own data and technology to create products neither business could have developed independently.
“Fusing RAFI’s fundamental weighting methodologies with TMX VettaFi’s real-time advisor engagement data, analytics, and Index Factory calculation engine enables next-generation index design,” he said.
The standalone RAFI index suite will remain intact, but the two businesses are expected to collaborate on new strategies.
“Cross-pollination will drive joint innovation,” Hendrickson said, adding that VettaFi will draw on RAFI’s factor research and fundamental screening models to develop multi-asset, thematic and custom index strategies for global asset managers.
That combination may ultimately be the most significant element of the acquisition: not simply adding 90-plus indexes to VettaFi’s platform, but combining RAFI’s established research with VettaFi’s technology, advisor data and distribution capabilities.
As Hendrickson put it, the goal is to use that combination to create a “far more powerful set of tools and analytics” for the company’s global client base.
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