Invesco PowerShares, a leading global provider of exchange-traded funds, has announced the launch of the PowerShares Global Buyback Achievers UCITS ETF (BUYB). The fund, which has been listed on the London Stock Exchange, with European cross-listings planned for coming weeks, invests in companies that have bought back at least 5% of their own shares in the previous twelve months or most recent fiscal year. Bryon Lake, Head of Invesco PowerShares, EMEA, commented: “This new product offers an innovative yet simple factor-based way to invest in global equities.”

UBS Global Asset Management has unveiled its sixth socially responsible exchange-traded fund. The fund, which has been listed on the London Stock Exchange, is linked to the MSCI UK IMI Extended SRI Index and provides exposure to UK companies with outstanding sustainability credentials. Andrew Walsh, Head of UBS ETF Sales UK & Ireland, said: “With this UK market-focused SRI listing, we continue in our commitment to offering ETFs which enable investors to access those companies which meet rigorous environmental, social and corporate governance standards in an easy to access structure.”

ETF Securities, a leading provider of exchange-traded funds, has partnered with Robo-Stox, a creator of indices tracking the robotics and automation industry, to launch the Robo-Stox Robotics and Automation GO UCITS ETF (ROBO) on the London Stock Exchange. Howie Li, Co-Head of Canvas, ETF Securities, said: “This investment solution will provide investors with a global portfolio of listed robotics and automation companies that capture activity from both emerging and established organisations that are highly diversified across countries, sectors and market capitalisation.”

Source, a leading European provider of exchange-traded funds, has listed a dedicated Eurozone banks ETF on the London Stock Exchange. The ETF provides exposure to banks within the Eurozone and is optimised to reduce exposure to illiquid stocks. The optimisation process applies various filters including a liquidity factor and a variable individual stock weight cap to produce a more representative and tradable sector benchmark. Michael John Lytle, Chief Development Officer at Source, said: “For investors who want to increase their exposure to Eurozone banks, this ETF provides the opportunity to gain access quickly and efficiently.”

WisdomTree, the fifth largest sponsor of exchange-traded funds in the US, has announced the launch of its European UCITS ETF platform. In keeping with its reputation as a pioneer of smart beta ETFs, the sponsor has debuted with the listing of four dividend-weighted ETFs. Listed on the LSE, the ETFs provide exposure to large and small-cap US and European equities. Nik Bienkowski, Co-CEO of WisdomTree Europe, said: “We are extremely proud to be launching WisdomTree’s first UCITS ETFs in Europe. WisdomTree is founded on well-built indices, insightful research and a track record of innovation.”

Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (Deutsche AWM) has listed a range of strategic beta exchange-traded funds on the London Stock Exchange that provide investors with exposure to established equity factors: value, quality, momentum and low beta. Martin Weithofer, head of strategic beta at Deutsche AWM, commented: “Factor-based investing is moving from being a niche investment practice into the mainstream, and the launch of our strategic beta ETFs puts us in a strong position to meet this growing demand.”

Financial data vendor Thomson Reuters has launched the Thomson Reuters StarMine Quality Earners APAC ex-Japan Income Index, a new smart beta index tracking the most sustainable earning and high dividend-yielding companies in Asia Pacific excluding Japan. Stephan Flagel, Head of Indices for Thomson Reuters, commented: “Using our StarMine Earnings Quality model, not only can we identify the top earners at each point in time, but we can also tell which of these companies are the most reliable and likely to persist in being profitable.”

State Street Global Advisors has announced the launch of the SPDR Thomson Reuters Global Convertible Bond UCITS ETF (ZPRC), the world’s first passive global convertible bond ETF. The fund, which has been listed on the Deutsche Börse, aims to offer investors cost-efficient and transparent exposure to the unique risk-return profile of this asset class. Alexis Marinof, head of SPDR EMEA, said: “Convertible bonds have exhibited historically lower correlations to traditional equity and bond markets, and typically will have lower sensitivity to interest rate changes than normal bonds which makes them a great portfolio diversifier.”

Source, one of Europe’s leading providers of exchange-traded funds, and Ashmore, the specialist emerging markets investment manager, have partnered to launch a pair of ETFs that offer actively managed exposure to emerging market bonds. Michael John Lytle, Chief Development Officer at Source, commented: “Ashmore is one of the very few managers solely dedicated to emerging markets and with a very long and successful track record. Investors will now be able to access their expertise in active management while benefiting from the intra-day trading, liquidity and increased transparency of Source’s ETF structure.”

iShares, the exchange-traded fund platform of BlackRock, has unveiled a series of “factor” ETFs designed for investors seeking to express more distinct views on specific drivers of risk and return. The funds, which have been listed on the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse, further expand BlackRock’s “smart beta” offering, targeting sources of return which cannot be isolated through traditional market capitalisation weighted indices. Each fund provides access to global equity markets and seeks to offer targeted exposure to a specific factor that has historically provided enhanced risk adjusted returns: value, size, quality and momentum.