MSCI, a leading provider of indices to exchange-traded funds (ETFs), has expanded its family of currency-hedged benchmarks with the launch of new daily hedged indices. The newly launched MSCI Daily Hedged Indices aim to represent the returns of an MSCI parent equity index with its currency risk hedged back to a single home country currency on a daily basis. The indices come at a time when investors are attaching greater importance to currency hedging amid heightened exchange rate volatility.

iShares, the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) business of BlackRock, has expanded its suite of defined maturity corporate bond funds with the launch of four new ‘iSharesBonds’ on the NYSE Arca. The new ETFs offer investors access to a diversified pool of investment-grade corporate credit securities with a defined maturity date, daily liquidity and price transparency. The funds have a range of possible portfolio applications but are particularly useful for targeting and managing interest-rate risk and matching assets to liabilities.

The Nasdaq OMX Group has expanded its Nasdaq Global Index Family, resulting in the launch of an additional 21,000 new indices. The enlarged family represents more than 98% of the global equity investable marketplace and includes in excess of 25,000 separate indices. The family consists of global securities broken down by market segment, region, country, size and sector, covering 9,000 securities with a combined float-adjusted market capitalisation of over $37 trillion.

Boost, a London-based provider of short and leveraged exchange-traded products, has listed nine new exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) on the London Stock Exchange. The new ETCs are linked to indices from Nasdaq OMX’s commodity index family and include Europe’s first short and leveraged palladium products. Hector McNeil, Co-CEO of Boost, said: “China’s growth, the developments in the autocatalytic converter market for cars, and the rebound in the world economy, makes palladium a very interesting metal for investors.”

Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM) has announced the launch of the db x-trackers II Markit iBoxx ABF Indonesia Government UCITS ETF (SH8) on the Singapore Exchange (SGX). The fund, which tracks the Markit iBoxx ABF Indonesia Government Index, offers exposure to local currency debt issued by the Indonesian central government and is the first out-and-out emerging markets bond ETF to be listed by DeAWM on SGX.

Citi has added a new emerging markets index to its fixed income index family. The Citi Emerging Markets Government Bond Index (EMGBI) measures the performance of fixed-rate, local currency sovereign bonds. The index currently comprises 233 bonds from 14 countries globally including Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, and Turkey.

UBS Global Asset Management has listed a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the London Stock Exchange offering exposure to a highly diversified portfolio of developed market equities. Linked to the MSCI World Index, one of the most commonly used benchmarks for global equity funds, the newly launched UBS-ETF MSCI World (USD) “A” (UC55) tracks the performance of large and mid-cap stocks across 23 developed markets countries.

By David Stevenson – In just a matter of months, smart beta has emerged out of a technical netherworld into the investment mainstream. I’ve been banging on about various forms of smart beta for as long as I can remember, starting first with fundamentally weighted indices such as Research Affiliates’ RAFI suite, which are investable via ETFs offered by PowerShares, iShares and Lyxor, before moving on to low or minimum volatility indices popularised in ETF format by the likes of iShares, SPDR, PowerShares and Ossiam over the last year or so. Not forgetting, of course, the many successful high-dividend indices and ETFs.

iShares, the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) platform of asset management giant BlackRock, has added a euro-hedged emerging markets fixed income ETF to its growing suite of currency-hedged products. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, the newly launched iShares JP Morgan $ EM Bond EUR Hedged UCITS ETF (EMBE) offers investors physically-replicated euro-hedged exposure to dollar-denominated sovereign and quasi-sovereign bonds from emerging markets countries.

PowerShares, a leading global provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and a subsidiary of Invesco, has revealed that assets under management in its fundamentals-weighted suite of equity and fixed income ETFs, part of its larger smart beta range, recently passed the $5 billion mark. PowerShares offers such ETFs on local exchanges in the US, Canada and Europe, including the UK, France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany.