Archive for October 2016

EY report points to future drivers of ETF industry growth

Oct 25th, 2016 | By
EY: More players to enter the ETF industry over the next two years; big bet on China

AUM within the global ETF industry are on track to reach $6tn by 2020, growing from its current asset base of $3.4tn, according to recent research from multinational professional services firm EY. The firm’s report identifies product development, market entry and digital disruption as key factors to sustaining the required annual growth rate of 21.5%, as averaged over the past decade. Lisa Kealy, EY EMEIA ETF Leader, commented: “Integrating innovation throughout the business to address these challenges is crucial to ensuring that providers can meet an ever-growing range of customer needs and attract an ever-wider range of investors.”


Smart beta popularity growing among European investors, finds PowerShares

Oct 24th, 2016 | By
Bryon Lake, Global Head of ETF Solutions, JP Morgan Asset Management.

According to research from ETF provider Invesco PowerShares, smart beta as an investment strategy is rapidly growing in popularity among European investors – 71% of survey respondents believe smart beta strategies will become a widely accepted investment over the next few years, compared to 60% of investors who held the same conviction in 2015. Bryon Lake, Head of Invesco PowerShares EMEA, commented: “Smart beta is increasingly seen as a tool of choice among users in meeting investment objectives and is playing an increasing role in investment portfolios across Europe.”


UK active equity funds underperforming benchmarks, finds S&P Dow Jones

Oct 24th, 2016 | By
Active equity funds underperform benchmarks in UK, finds S&P

More than 85% of European-domiciled UK-focused actively managed equity funds underperformed their benchmark over the past year, nearly a four-fold increase on calendar year 2015 when 22.2% of funds underperformed, according to latest research from S&P Dow Jones. Furthermore, across UK equity funds, 60.0% underperformed over three years, 63.1% over five years and 77.1% over ten years. The results support the ongoing argument that passive funds, such as ETFs, offer better value and performance than their actively managed counterparts.


Presidential elections have little impact on US markets

Oct 24th, 2016 | By
ETF provider Source sees upside in US economy despite red indicators

US presidential elections have only limited impact on local equity markets, according to new analysis by Source, a European provider of ETFs. Even in elections where the candidates were within five percentage points of each other, there was still little impact on markets. Paul Jackson, Head of Research at Source, said: “The fact that in 2012, equities did not weaken before and performed well after the election implies that this kind of political uncertainty does not necessarily change prevailing trends in markets.”


Three ETFs to play Amazon’s upcoming Q3 earnings report

Oct 24th, 2016 | By
ProShares adds online retail ETF to thematic suite

European investors who believe that Amazon may beat analysts’ expectations when it reveals its third quarter earnings on 27 October, may wish to consider European-listed equity sector ETFs that offer exposure to the consumer discretionary giant. The SPDR S&P US Consumer Discretionary Select Sector UCITS ETF and the iShares S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary Sector UCITS ETF offer the largest exposures at 13.7% while the globally-focused SPDR MSCI World Consumer Discretionary UCITS ETF still has Amazon at 7.9%. Analysts are expecting Amazon to earn 80 cents a share on $32.69bn in revenues between July and September.


European investors rush to US and emerging markets ETFs

Oct 24th, 2016 | By
European ETFs attract €47.9bn net inflows during 2016, finds Morningstar

European-listed equity ETFs have seen positive inflows of €4.6bn between July and September, the first quarter of positive inflows this year as investors poured €2.5bn into US large cap and €3.3bn into emerging market ETFs. Jose Garcia-Zarate, Associate Director of Passive Strategies Research for Morningstar, notes that the relative strength of the US market, and a more positive outlook for emerging markets, are significant factors driving these flows.


WisdomTree sees growth potential in European small caps

Oct 21st, 2016 | By
Viktor Nossek , director of research at WisdomTree in Europe.

By Viktor Nossek, Director of Research, WisdomTree Europe:

Europe’s investment case is underpinned by a structurally-led – and not a cyclically-led economic recovery. We anticipate growth to pick up over the course of the next 12 months, propelled by consumer spending mainly in the Eurozone and the UK, along with a modest pickup in investment spending. Net exports and government spending will work as stabilisers but not drivers for growth.


Global ETF assets reach record high of $3.4tn

Oct 21st, 2016 | By
Deutsche introduces GBP-hedged MSCI World ETF to Switzerland

Assets invested in exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded products listed globally reached a new record high $3.408tn at the end of Q3 2016, according to latest research from London-based ETF industry consultant ETFGI. While year-to-date ETF/ETP net inflows of $238.1bn is slightly behind the $251.7bn gathered at this point in 2015, both fixed income and commodity ETFs/ETPs have set YTD records within their asset class of $100.7bn and $85.6bn net inflows respectively.


Elkhorn Investments launches low vol/high beta rotation ETF

Oct 21st, 2016 | By
Elkhorn Investments launches next generation low-vol rotation ETF

Elkhorn Investments has launched the Elkhorn Lunt Low Vol/High Beta Tactical ETF (Bats: LVHB), which switches between tracking the S&P 500 Low Volatility Index and the S&P 500 High Beta Index, depending on momentum signals in the US market. Ben Fulton, CEO of Elkhorn Investments, commented: “Factors, including low-volatility, have their own season and Lunt Capital’s strategy allows investors to tactically rotate between low-volatility and high-beta stocks within the tax-efficient ETF structure.”


Nasdaq hosts 24 new ETP listings in Q3 2016

Oct 20th, 2016 | By
Nasdaq captures 35% of US ETP listings and switches in Q3 2016

Nasdaq Stock Market hosted 24 new exchange-traded product listings and one switch in the third quarter of 2016, representing 35% of new ETP listings and switches across all US exchanges. The listing and switching activity brings Nasdaq’s total ETP listings to 295. Jeff McCarthy, Vice President and Head of ETP Listings at Nasdaq, commented: “Nasdaq’s expanding portfolio of ETP listings reinforces our commitment to helping issuers list new products and grow.” Details of the fund launches during the quarter are listed below.