Archive for March 2013

ETFs favoured choice for passive investment, shows EDHEC-Risk survey

Mar 28th, 2013 | By
ETFs favoured choice of investors for passive investment, shows EDHEC-Institute survey

EDHEC-Risk Institute has published the results of the Amundi-sponsored EDHEC European ETF Survey 2012. Among the key findings is that ETFs remain the favourite choice of investors for passive investment. Commenting on the findings, Valérie Baudson, Managing Director of Amundi ETF, said: “Despite the growing maturity of the ETF market, this year’s survey has shown again that the level of satisfaction towards ETFs remains extremely high and that the vast majority of investors plan to increase their usage.”


“Duration rotation” puts interest rate-hedged bond ETFs in focus

Mar 27th, 2013 | By
Stephen Cohen, head of iShares EMEA at BlackRock.

Against a backdrop of core interest rate volatility, investors have been moving out of broad and long-term bond ETFs into products focused on shorter-maturity segments, in what Stephen Cohen of iShares calls a “duration rotation”. Several ETF-based strategies are available to investors to mitigate the impact of interest rate risk. One option is the iShares Barclays Euro Corporate Bond Interest Rate Hedged ETF (IRCP), which hedges against interest rate increases by shorting German bund futures.


Market Vectors launches Treasury-Hedged High Yield Bond ETF (THHY)

Mar 27th, 2013 | By
Market Vectors launches Treasury-Hedged High Yield Bond ETF (THHY)

Van Eck, a US-based sponsor of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), has unveiled the Market Vectors Treasury-Hedged High Yield Bond ETF (THHY). The fund combines the income potential of high-yield corporate bonds with the interest rate-hedging capability offered by shorting Treasury notes. The launch of the fund follows the introduction of the Market Vectors US Treasury-Hedged High Yield Bond Index, the fund’s benchmark, in February this year.


Gold market will see second decade of growth, says creator of first gold ETF

Mar 25th, 2013 | By
Goldman Sachs to acquire Perth Mint Physical Gold ETF

Contrary to recent forecasts predicting the end of the gold bull market, Graham Tuckwell, Founder and Chairman of ETF Securities, believes untapped demand from China and India, and retail investors, will lead to a second decade of growth for the gold market. Ten years on since Tuckwell launched the world’s first physical gold exchange-traded product in Australia, similar products are now listed on 31 exchanges throughout the world and have seen assets under management reach $147 billion.


Vietnam ETFs up strongly YTD as government tackles bad debt

Mar 24th, 2013 | By
Vietnam ETFs up strongly YTD as government tackles bad debt

Vietnamese stocks have surged in 2013 making the db X-trackers FTSE Vietnam UCITS ETF (XFVT) and Market Vectors Vietnam ETF (VNM) two of the best performing exchange-traded funds (ETFs) of the year so far. A number of factors are behind the strong performance, but growing investor confidence, fuelled by renewed government action to address high levels of bad debt in the banking system and stimulate investment, is foremost among these.


Boost adds GBP trading lines to triple-leveraged long and short DAX ETPs

Mar 22nd, 2013 | By
Boost adds GBP trading lines to triple-leveraged long and short DAX ETPs

Boost ETP, a leading provider of short and leveraged exchange-traded products (ETPs), has announced that its three-times leveraged long and short DAX products have been listed in sterling on the London Stock Exchange. The new GBP listings complement the products’ existing EUR listings, making them more accessible to UK investors, with tighter relative spreads. The listing follows a similar move last week, which saw the provider’s oil, gold and silver products also gain new GBP trading lines.


Institutional investors dominate equity ETF activity

Mar 22nd, 2013 | By
Institutional investors embrace ETFs, reveals iShares sponsored Greenwich Associates survey

Institutional market influence was most prominent within the equity exchange-traded fund (ETF) space in 2012, with institutional investors holding roughly one-half of total equity ETF assets, according to a report from Strategic Insight, a mutual fund research firm. Institutional presence was heaviest within international equity ETFs, particularly those providing exposure to emerging markets, accounting for an estimated 57% of total assets (with individual investors and their financial advisors owning 43% of assets).


MSCI rolls out momentum indices; USA index lined up for iShares ETF

Mar 20th, 2013 | By
Pacer ETFs modifies Trendpilot strategy with new ‘Extreme Valuation Trigger’

MSCI, a leading global index provider, has broadened its suite of smart beta ‘risk premia’ indices with the introduction of the MSCI Momentum Indices, initially comprising the MSCI ACWI Momentum Index and MSCI USA Momentum Index. The new indices, which reflect the performance of an equity momentum strategy and can enhance portfolio returns and diversification, have already caught the eye of iShares, the world’s largest provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs).


NYSE Euronext and Bloomberg recharge clean energy index family

Mar 20th, 2013 | By
NYSE Euronext and Bloomberg refresh clean energy index family

NYSE Euronext Indices and Bloomberg New Energy Finance have re-branded their family of clean energy indices to better represent the involvement of both NYSE and Bloomberg. The family is now known as NYSE Bloomberg Clean Energy Indexes. The indices were launched in April last year and are based on Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s database of organisations involved in clean energy and related sectors. The database includes more than 1,000 listed companies with at least 10% or more of their activity in clean energy.


ETF Securities unveils sterling and euro-hedged physical gold ETFs

Mar 19th, 2013 | By
AdvisorShares teams up with Gartman and Treesdale for industry-first gold ETF suite

ETF Securities, a leading provider of commodity-related exchange-traded products (ETPs), has unveiled a couple of new products offering currency-hedged access to gold. The new London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse-listed products give sterling and euro-denominated investors direct exposure to physical gold, whilst mitigating the effects of currency volatility by reducing exposure to the US dollar, the currency in which gold is priced.