UBS Global Asset Management has listed eight new sterling-hedged ETFs on the London Stock Exchange. Aimed at sterling-based investors, the ETFs contain in-built currency hedges enabling investors to mitigate the risk of exchange rate fluctuations. Andrew Walsh, Head of UBS ETF Sales UK, explained: “These currency-hedged UBS ETFs are ideal building blocks for investors looking to minimize their currency risks. In this way, we are responding to a growing need of investors who would like to better hedge their portfolios against exchange rate fluctuations.”

Boost, a London-headquartered provider of short and leveraged exchange-traded products (ETPs), has listed two more products on Borsa Italiana, Italy’s main stock exchange. The new products, which provide triple leveraged long and short exposure to the price of silver, are linked to the performance of the Nasdaq Silver Index. They are the Boost Silver 3x Short Daily ETP (3SIS) and the Boost Silver 3x Leverage Daily ETP (3SIL), and follow on from the provider’s successful listing of eight ETPs four weeks ago.

Vanguard Asset Management has unveiled an index designed to measure and monitor over time the level of value advisers deliver to their clients. Called the Value Index, the measure is essentially a barometer of client satisfaction in the new post-RDR, fee-based world. Neil Cowell, Head of UK Retail Sales, said: “The Value Index will support advisers by helping them identify the drivers of a high value client relationship and allowing them to benchmark themselves against industry standards.”

Boost, a London-headquartered provider of short and leveraged exchange-traded products, has made an impressive debut on Borsa Italiana, with its products capturing a significant portion of the exchange’s ETP trading volumes. Hector McNeil, Co-CEO of Boost, commented: “For the second week running Boost’s products have set the pace on the Borsa Italiana. All our recent listed products, most notably three times short and leverage ETPs tracking FTSE MIB and natural gas, have seen significant rises in trading volumes.”

Charles Stanley, the UK-based stockbroker and investment manager, has agreed to acquire the entire issued share capital of Evercore Pan Asset, the specialist ETF portfolio manager co-founded by Conservative MP, John Redwood. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Founded in 2007, Pan Asset offers asset allocation advice across an extensive range of global asset classes and specialises in the use of index-tracking investments, particularly ETFs. Its clients include pension funds, charities, universities and family wealth.

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) has unveiled the SPDR MSCI World Small Cap UCITS ETF (ZPRS), the first ever exchange-traded fund to track the MSCI World Small Cap Index. Listed on the Deutsche Börse, the new UCITS-compliant ETF offers exposure to small-cap companies across 24 developed market countries globally, capturing approximately 14% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each country. The growth bias inherent in small-cap stocks means the fund can be used to tilt a portfolio towards growth.

ProShares, a US-based provider of exchange-traded funds, best known for its leveraged long and short line-up, has announced the launch of the ProShares Short Term USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF (EMSH) on the BATS Exchange. The ETF is the first short-term emerging markets bond ETF in the United States and is designed to offer attractive yield potential with reduced interest rate sensitivity.

Global X Funds, a New York-based provider of exchange-traded funds, has announced the listing of three ETFs on Bolsa de Valores de Colombia, the Colombian stock exchange. This marks the first time that a foreign ETF has been listed on the Colombian exchange. The three ETFs are the Global X FTSE Colombia 20 ETF (GXG), the Global X Guru Index ETF (GURU), and the Global X SuperDividend ETF (SDIV).

IndexUniverse, a leading provider of exchange-traded fund analytics, and Index Strategy Advisors, a registered investment advisor, both headquartered in the US, have announced the launch of a partnership to build and deliver ETF portfolios to clients. Under the terms of the agreement, Index Strategy Advisors will leverage IndexUniverse’s ETF Analytics and due diligence platform to select ETFs for clients, based on its own in-house proprietary asset allocation models.

By Adriano Pace, head of the ETF marketplace at Tradeweb. In recent years, exchange-traded products have seen consistent growth in assets. In the US, they are well-established investment vehicles, with combined assets now totalling $1,641 billion. In the relatively nascent European market, assets have steadily increased in recent years, but at around $408 billion the potential for further growth remains high. There are, however, unique challenges to the European environment that may be limiting its growth.