Australian ETF provider ANZ ETFS Management is set to launch Australia’s first EURO STOXX 50 ETF later this month after STOXX Ltd licensed its EURO STOXX 50 index to the provider. ANZ ETFS Management is a partnership between Australia and New Zealand banking group Ltd (ANZ) and ETF Securities (ETFS). Set up in 2015 it has so far listed six ETFs on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). Matteo Andreetto, CEO at STOXX Ltd, said: “It is the first time that our unrivalled flagship EURO STOXX 50 Index has been licensed for an ETF in Australia.”

By Giulio Castelli, Head of Product Development at STOXX.

Last year 196 countries agreed to limit global warming to less than two degrees at the United Nations Climate Change Summit in Paris. Though primarily a political signal, the agreement has increased pressure on companies along with investors. In order to keep to the two-degree-goal, greenhouse gas emissions need to be zeroed within the next 30 to 45 years. A major message of the climate change conference was that carbon emissions will no longer be economically justifiable in any business model in the not too distant future. Long-term investors in particular need to take notice of this.

Investment houses Standard Life, Aviva and M&G have frozen trading in their UK Real Estate funds following a rapid increase in redemption requests as a result of the Brexit vote. The move, which prevents investors withdrawing their money from the funds as managers seek to sell off parts of the portfolio to accommodate the backlog of redemption requests, serves to highlight the relative liquidity benefits of ETFs. The freezing of the two funds precipitated the Bank of England to state it was monitoring the behaviour of investors in open-ended commercial property funds, as one of the risks to financial stability in the UK.

London-based investment research and advisory boutique Elston Consulting has launched a Charity Multi-Asset Income ETF Portfolio intended to provide charitable sector clients with a regular income and above-inflation returns at low cost. The ETF managed portfolio, which is diversified across a broad range of asset classes, has been designed to target a total return of 4% above inflation over the long-term, with an income yield of around 3.6%. Henry Cobbe, Head of Research at Elston Consulting, said: “With the Elston Charity Multi-Asset Income portfolio, advisers working with charities can offer a systematically constructed broadly diversified investment strategy that aims to provide a regular income and above-inflation returns at very low cost.”

Deutsche Asset Management has launched its fourth US-listed multi-factor ETF. The Deutsche X-trackers Russell 2000 Comprehensive Factor ETF (NYSE Arca: DESC) is a smart beta equities fund that favours companies within the Russell 2000 Index with strong exposure to targeted investment style factors: value, momentum, quality, low volatility and size. It tracks the Russell 2000 Comprehensive Factor Index and has a TER of 0.30%. Fiona Bassett, Head of Passive Strategy in the Americas, said: “Academic research has identified certain stock characteristics that are important in explaining a stock’s risk and performance. Emphasising these factors can potentially make a significant contribution to outperforming traditional market-capitalisation weighted benchmark indices.”

Global ETF provider iShares has expanded its suite of sustainable funds in the US with the launch of two new ETFs tracking Environment, Social & Governance (ESG) indices as investors look to enhance their portfolios with ESG exposures. The iShares MSCI EAFE ESG Select ETF tracks the MSCI EAFE ESG Select Index, providing access to large-and-mid-cap stocks in Europe, Asia and Australia, while the iShares MSCI EM ESG Select ETF tracks the MSCI EM ESG Select Index which includes large-and mid-cap emerging market stocks. Deborah Winshel, Managing Director and Global Head of BlackRock Impact, said: “Clients have repeatedly asked us for solutions to optimize their portfolios for ESG considerations.”

iShares has launched its Fallen Angels High Yield Corporate Bond UCITS ETF (WING) providing exposure to global bonds that were once rated investment grade and have since been downgraded to high yield status. The fund may provide a value opportunity to investors as the strategy seeks to take advantage of the price anomaly that can arise with a downgrade of these securities (the overly negative sentiment surrounding a downgrade into junk status, causes fallen angels to be regularly oversold prior to their downgrade). Listed on the LSE in US dollars and British pounds, and on the Deutsche Bourse in euros, the ETF has a TER of 0.50%.

Global index provider STOXX has licensed its EURO STOXX Select Dividend 30 Index to Korean asset manager Mirae Asset Global Investments to underlie a new smart beta ETF, which is listed on the Korean Stock Exchange today. The underlying universe of the EURO STOXX Select Dividend 30 index is the EURO STOXX Index. Matteo Andreetto, chief executive officer, STOXX Limited, said: “The EURO STOXX Select Dividend 30 Index is part of STOXX’s innovative smart-beta offering. As we weigh the components in this index by dividend yield rather than market cap, it offers direct access to the performance of high-dividend paying companies.”

Trading on electronic ETF platform Tradeweb soared on Friday 27th June following the ‘leave’ results of the EU Referendum as investors quickly cashed in on falling markets and bought safe haven assets in a bid to protect themselves from volatility. Adriano Pace, managing director, equity derivatives at Tradeweb, said: “Friday’s high trading volumes demonstrate the strength of the ETF market. It shows how good liquidity in ETFs can be maintained in times of market stress. This is the third proper test that we have had for ETFs on our platform in the last 12 months, and each time we have seen trading accelerate.”

Japanese asset manager Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai AM has launched an ETF tracking the iSTOXX MUTB Japan Proactive Leaders 200 Index. The MAXIS JAPAN Proactive Investment in Physical and Human Capital 200 Index ETF, launched earlier this week, is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Index provider STOXX announced that it had licensed its index to the asset manager to underlie the ETF earlier this year. The index was developed as part of a collaboration between STOXX and Japanese trust bank Mitsubishi UFJ Trust. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management are both part of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.