AdvisorShares has launched an actively-managed long/short ETF that follows an equity sector rotation strategy. The fund will go long sector ETFs forecast to outperform the S&P 500 Index, while also shorting an equal dollar amount of sector ETFs that are forecast to underperform. The strategy will be based on a proprietary quantitative process known as “Sector Scoring and Allocation Methodology”.

With superior fundamentals, sovereign bonds of emerging market nations may be better positioned to withstand a global downturn, while at the same time offering investors the opportunity to generate strong returns without the level of volatility seen with equities. Moreover, as these nations grow in wealth, their currencies should appreciate, leading to gains for sterling investors.

Ratings agency Moody’s has confirmed the UK’s AAA credit rating but warned that economic challenges lie ahead. In its report, Moody’s gives the UK high scores for economic governance, but notes that the budget deficit, weaker macro prospects and risks emanating from the euro-zone crisis mean that the UK has a reduced ability to absorb further shocks.

While East Asia has received the lion’s share of investor attention recently, the real lion has been Africa, which has grown faster in eight of the past ten years. Indeed, over the past decade, six of the world’s ten fastest-growing economies were African. With the trajectory of economic growth remaining positive, the continent represents an increasingly important investment opportunity.

Structured to provide exposure to either the technology-heavy Nasdaq-100 Index or US Treasury bills, depending on the relative performance of the Nasdaq-100 Index, the RBS Nasdaq-100 Trendpilot ETN offers a low-maintenance way to follow a dynamic, trend-based trading strategy on the Nasdaq-100 Index.

The stellar rise in the price of gold from just over $600/oz five years ago to around $1600 today has not been replicated by gold mining stocks, which have lagged for much of this period. This divergence in performance has accentuated recently and many analysts now think that the valuation gap has become unjustifiably wide. Gold mining stocks could be about to catch up.

Direxion, best known for its leveraged ETFs, has launched a pair of ‘insider sentiment’ ETFs, which allocate constituents according to indicators such as stock purchases by corporate insiders (employees and board directors). Corporate insiders are presumed to be well-apprised of business prospects. Thus large purchases can be interpreted as a bullish sign, whereas disposals are seen as bearish.

The PowerShares DB US Inflation/Deflation ETNs are the first exchange-traded products to provide investors with direct exposure to US inflation or deflation expectations. The ETNs track changes in the market’s expectations of future inflation implied by the difference in yields between TIPS and US Treasury bonds with approximately equivalent terms to maturity.

With equity markets faltering and inflation soaring, timber and forestry ETFs provide investors with exposure to a physical asset that can offer steady growth, regular income, downside protection and increased portfolio diversification. It is no surprise, therefore, that institutional investors have long viewed woodland as a useful portfolio tool.

Global X Funds, a New York-based provider of exchange traded funds, has announced the launch of the Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF – the first NYSE-listed ETF tracking Greek equities. “Whether bullish or bearish, this new ETF allows investors to take a viewpoint on the recent news coming out of Greece” says Bruno del Ama, Global X Funds CEO.