Archive for July 2014
Jul 31st, 2014 |
By Simon Smith, CFA
Cerulli Associates, a Boston-based asset management research firm, has published research noting that interest in specific investment outcomes will play a major part in driving institutional exchange-traded fund adoption. Outcome-oriented investment approaches typically ignore conventional benchmarks and instead focus on achieving a particular goal. “Smart beta” strategies appear to have a growing roll in this investment approach. One ETF sponsor told Cerulli that institutional use of smart beta will be a key driver of institutional asset management mandates over the next three years and that exposure will likely come via ETFs.
Posted in ETF and Index News |
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Tags: ETF Industry News, Global, Smart Beta, United States and Canada
Jul 29th, 2014 |
By Simon Smith, CFA
MSCI, a leading index provider to the exchange-traded funds industry, has released data highlighting the continuing strength of its brand within the ETF market. According to the provider, ETF investors directed a larger proportion of new funds into ETFs based on its indices than any other index provider during the first six months of 2014. The provider also noted that ETF issuers launched more new funds based on its indices than those of any other provider. Baer Pettit, Managing Director and Global Head of MSCI’s index business, said: “We are delighted with these numbers which are further evidence of MSCI’s strength in the ETF market”.
Posted in ETF and Index News |
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Tags: Barclays, Dow Jones Indexes, Equities, ETF and Index News, Fixed Income, FTSE, Global, MSCI, S&P Dow Jones
Jul 29th, 2014 |
By Simon Smith, CFA
Boost, a leading European provider of short and leveraged exchange-traded products, has launched Italy’s first triple-leveraged long and short copper ETPs and the country’s first ever short and leveraged palladium ETPs (of any leverage factor). They are linked to sub-indices of the Nasdaq Commodity Benchmark Index. The launch takes the total number of Boost ETP listings in Europe, across the London Stock Exchange, Borsa Italiana and Xetra, to 72.
Posted in Alternatives / Multi-Asset |
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Tags: Boost ETP, Commodities, ETF Industry News, ETF Launch, Leveraged and Inverse ETFs, Nasdaq OMX Indexes, WisdomTree
Jul 28th, 2014 |
By Simon Smith, CFA
Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM), the asset manager behind the db x-trackers brand of exchange-traded funds, has added to its range of low cost “core” ETFs. The latest addition to the range is the physically replicated db x-trackers MSCI World Index UCITS ETF (DR) (XDWD), listed on the London Stock Exchange. The fund provides exposure to the MSCI World Index, a benchmark capturing the performance of large and mid-cap stocks in 23 developed market countries.
Posted in Equities |
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Tags: Asia Pacific, DAXglobal, DWS Xtrackers, Equities, ETF Industry News, ETF Launch, Europe, FTSE, MSCI, STOXX, United Kingdom, United States and Canada
Jul 27th, 2014 |
By Simon Smith, CFA
Market Vectors, a US-based provider of exchange-traded funds, has announced the launch of the Market Vectors ChinaAMC SME-ChiNext ETF (CNXT), an innovative new fund providing direct physical A-Share exposure to SME and high growth stocks listed in China. Launched in collaboration with ChinaAMC, one of China’s largest asset managers, the fund is linked to the SME-ChiNext 100 Index, an index tracking the performance of the 100 largest and most liquid stocks listed and trading on the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Board and the ChiNext Board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
Posted in Equities |
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Tags: China, Emerging and Frontier, Equities, ETF Industry News, ETF Launch, United States and Canada, VanEck Vectors
Jul 27th, 2014 |
By Simon Smith, CFA
S&P Dow Jones Indices, one of the world’s leading providers of indices to ETFs, has unveiled the S&P Quality Indices, a new family of indices tracking “high quality” stocks. The indices are designed to measure the performance of stocks which score well on three fundamental measures of quality: return on equity, accruals ratio and financial leverage ratio. Vinit Srivastava, Senior Director of Strategy Indices at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said: “The launch of the S&P Quality Index family provides investors with a factor-based benchmark that captures the characteristics of high quality companies.”
Posted in ETF and Index News |
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Tags: Asia Pacific, Dow Jones Indexes, Equities, ETF and Index News, Europe, Global, S&P Dow Jones, Smart Beta, United States and Canada
Jul 26th, 2014 |
By Simon Smith, CFA
First Trust has teamed up once again with relative strength experts Dorsey Wright & Associates (DWA), this time to launch an international equity ETF. Listed on Nasdaq, the First Trust Dorsey Wright International Focus 5 ETF (IFV) is based on a systematic momentum strategy index designed to provide exposure to the five First Trust international equity ETFs identified to offer the greatest potential to outperform. Tom Dorsey, President & CEO of DWA, said: “I am excited that we have collaborated with First Trust to bring a second ETF that captures the Dorsey Wright Focus Five methodology and now provides investors with a tactical international equity strategy.”
Posted in Equities |
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Tags: Dorsey Wright & Associates (DWA), Emerging and Frontier, Equities, ETF Industry News, ETF Launch, Europe, First Trust, Global, Smart Beta, United Kingdom, United States and Canada
Jul 26th, 2014 |
By Simon Smith, CFA
The Canadian exchange-traded fund industry stood at $70.1 billion in assets under management at the mid-way point of the year, according to a report from BMO Global Asset Management. Assets are up 11.1 percent from year-end 2013, led by fixed income ETFs with more than $2.5 billion of inflows. Rajiv Silgardo, Co-CEO, BMO Global Asset Management: said: “We expect the momentum into ETFs to continue at a rapid pace, as more investors use more ETFs to build better portfolios.”
Posted in ETF and Index News |
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Tags: BMO, Equities, ETF Industry News, Fixed Income, Smart Beta, United States and Canada
Jul 18th, 2014 |
By Simon Smith, CFA
HuaAn Asset Management has introduced the HuaAn Germany DAX 30 ETF, China’s first locally domiciled exchange-traded fund to provide exposure to the DAX Index. The ETF, which has been listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, means Chinese investors can now access the performance of leading German companies for the first time. Li Qing, CEO of HuaAn, said: “[The fund] opens the door to invest in Germany and EU for China investors. The era of global asset allocation has come to China, and HuaAn aims to be the leading asset management company at home and abroad.”
Posted in Equities |
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Tags: China, DAXglobal, Emerging and Frontier, Equities, ETF Industry News, ETF Launch, Europe, STOXX
Jul 17th, 2014 |
By Simon Smith, CFA
Ossiam, a leading European provider of smart beta exchange-traded funds, has revealed that assets under management have surpassed $2 billion. The Paris-based firm, which is an affiliate of Natixis Global Asset Management, was founded 2010 and has quickly established itself as one of the foremost providers of alternative beta strategies. Bruno Poulin, CEO of Ossiam, said: “The alternative-weighted index ETF market has developed considerably since our first fund launches in 2011. This is likely to be a long-term trend. Institutional and retail investors and their advisers have come to realise that alternative beta funds, including ETFs, can add value to their investment portfolios.”
Posted in Equities |
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Tags: Commodities, Equities, ETF Industry News, Europe, Ossiam, Smart Beta, United Kingdom, United States and Canada, Volatility