After introducing instruments focused on more passive investing to its offer, XTB is now collaborating with BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, to promote saving and capital growth through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) among retail investors.

XTB and BlackRock Join Forces to Promote Financial Education and ETFs

The collaboration will launch first in Spain where data shows consumers have relatively low savings rates compared to income and XTB wants to change it. According to Euromonitor, the savings-to-income ratio in Spain was just 5.8% in 2023.

"The partnership aims to promote a culture of saving and capital management, investment plans based on ETFs, and raise public awareness of the latest investment solutions," said Javier Urones, the Head of Sales for XTB Spain. "We expect that after our joint action, interest in ETFs may increase even more."

ETFs have grown in popularity globally among investors looking for a low-cost, transparent way to diversify their portfolios. Data from XTB shows almost 25% of its Spanish clients already invest regularly in ETFs.

"Millions of Europeans are embarking on the adventure of investing to build a better financial future," said Silvia Senra, the Digital Distribution Director in Spanish branch of BlackRock. "ETFs have been a frequent choice as a transparent, low-cost and easy-to-understand starting point."

XTB and BlackRock said that they see significant potential in working together to reach more European consumers with education and tools to improve investing and savings habits over the long term.

Polish Fintech Focuses on Passive Investing

In September last year, the Warsaw-listed company introduced "Investment Plans" based on ETFs into its offer, aimed at attracting investors looking for safer and more passive forms of investing. The launch of automated ETF-based investment plans by XTB aligns with rising consumer demand for passive index products. Globally, the most popular ETFs track the NASDAQ 100, S&P 500 and MSCI World indexes.

In Poland, the percentage of XTB platform users purchasing ETF index funds has jumped from 8% in 2020 to 24% in 2023. A recent national survey found 45.6% of Polish investors put money into ETFs. Two months later, the fintech introduced interest on idle deposits, aiming to compete with traditional banks and financial institutions offering savings accounts. New customers could expect an interest rate of up to 5% on their funds.

In its latest move targeting passive investors and cryptocurrency enthusiasts alike, XTB expanded its offering to include BTC ETN as an alternative to the bitcoin ETFs listed in the United States. Until now, the broker offered cryptocurrencies only in the form of CFDs but has now expanded it to include three cryptocurrency exchange-traded instruments listed in Europe.