Morgan Stanley Investment Management has introduced a new actively managed fixed income ETF which invests broadly across the floating-rate debt market.

Morgan Stanley Investment Management has broadened its US-listed ETF line-up with the introduction of five new actively managed ETFs.

The Nottingham Company has been successful in its application to the SEC for exemptive relief for use of Blue Tractor’s ‘Shielded Alpha’ ETF structure.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has granted preliminary exemptive relief to asset managers T. Rowe Price, Fidelity and Natixis and turnkey ETF provider Blue Tractor to offer semi-transparent exchange-traded funds. The relief paves the way for the firms to issue ETFs that employ an actively managed investment approach without being subject to a daily portfolio transparency condition.

A new type of actively managed ETF, which avoids disclosing portfolio holdings, has drawn interest from several major asset managers who have filed applications with the SEC to use the technology. Designed by Precidian Investments, a minority investment of Legg Mason, the ‘ActiveShares’ structure is being sought after by JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock, Capital Research, as well as Legg Mason affiliates ClearBridge and Royce.

Ivy Investments has introduced its first three Ivy ‘NextShares’ exchange-traded managed funds, making the firm among the first to offer the new non-transparent ETF structure. Classed as a hybrid between an actively managed mutual fund and an ETF, NextShares seek to protect the fund manager’s proprietary research while simultaneously offering intraday tradability. The three Ivy NextShares ETFs target US equities in the energy sector, those with growth characteristics, or those with value attributes.

Boston-based fund manager Fidelity Investments has applied to the SEC TO launch a new kind of non-transparent active exchange-traded fund, arguing that the hybrid model will combine the best features of a traditional ETF and a closed-end fund. The proposed ETF will publish a daily “tracking basket” in order to calculate the intraday net asset value, allowing participants to trade the fund throughout the day, and will further offer shareholders the option of selling their shares at NAV every week if they want to avoid selling them on the stock exchange.

Eaton Vance Corp has launched its long awaited exchange-traded mutual fund, the Eaton Vance Stock NextShares (Nasdaq: EVSTC), on Nasdaq. It is the first of eighteen anticipated NextShares funds expected to be launched. The fund is the first of its kind and is classed as a hybrid between an actively managed fund and an ETF. It will follow a research-driven core investment strategy, primarily holding a diversified portfolio of common stock to seek long-term capital appreciation. The initial fund launch has been made available to individual investors, financial advisors and institutions through leading online broker-dealers Folio Investing and Folio Institutional.

Eaton Vance, the investment manager behind the NextShares active exchange-traded fund structure, has announced that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has declared their approval for a range of NextShares funds. The funds are the first of the NextShares products to gain approval from the SEC and the news marks an important milestone in the development of the active ETF industry. “Today’s action by the SEC is the last regulatory step required to launch the initial NextShares funds,” said Stephen W. Clarke, President of NextShares Solutions. “We look forward to the staged introduction of NextShares beginning in the first quarter of 2016.”

Non-transparent ETFs moved a step closer in the US last week after the SEC approved a request by Nasdaq to adopt a new rule governing the listing and trading of a new fund structure devised by Eaton Vance called the exchange-traded managed fund (ETMF). ETMFs, which will come to market branded as NextShares, are effectively a hybrid between conventional actively managed mutual funds and ETFs. Thomas E. Faust Jr, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Eaton Vance, said: “The approval of Nasdaq’s rule change request for NextShares caps a pivotal two days in the development of NextShares. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Nasdaq to bring NextShares to market.”