Chicago Board Options Exchange has launched the CBOE S&P 500 Range-Bound Premium Income Index, reflecting the performance of a hypothetical portfolio of short-term Treasury bills and exchange-traded FLEX options based on the S&P 500 Index. The index may serve as the basis for future investment products, including ETFs, aimed at investors seeking consistent income distributions while taking the view that short-term equity returns will be range-bound.

Ethos Foundation has unveiled the Ethos Swiss Corporate Governance Index, measuring the return on selected Switzerland-domiciled equities adhering to best practice requirements in corporate governance. The index underweights or excludes companies from the Swiss Performance Index based on elevated ESG-related risks, as identified the firm’s proprietary “Corporate Governance Principles” model. The index may serve as the basis for future investment products including ETFs.

Solactive has launched the Solactive Swiss Family Owned Companies Index, tracking the performance of publicly-traded family-owned companies that are domiciled and listed in Switzerland. Family-owned businesses may outperform non-family ones over the long-term as strategic decisions tend to be influenced by longer-term goals, incentivized by the desire of handing control to future generations. The index may serve as the underlying for future investment products including ETFs.

State Street Global Advisors has unveiled the SPDR Long Dollar Gold Trust (NYSE: GLDW), a physically-backed gold ETP which seeks to mitigate the effect of a rising US dollar on gold prices by combining a long position in physical gold with long dollar exposure against a basket of non-US currencies. Performance of the US dollar against this currency basket is expected to increase or decrease the amount of gold held by the ETP. The new launch may serve as a strategic complement to existing gold-tracking ETPs, allowing investors to enjoy the diversification benefits of holding gold in either strong or weak dollar environments.

UBS has launched a new ETF offering investors access to euro area corporate bonds issued by firms with strong environmental, social, and governance (ESG) characteristics. To qualify for inclusion, companies must be in the industrial, energy supply or financial sector and must have an ESG rating of BBB or higher according to MSCI’s sustainability ratings system. The UBS Barclays MSCI Euro Area Liquid Corporates Sustainable UCITS ETF (UIMC) is tradable on Deutsche Börse’s Xetra and Frankfurt exchanges.

First Trust has listed two smart beta ETFs on SIX Swiss Exchange, offering multi-factor exposure to eurozone and Swiss equities. Each ETF employs the rules-based AlphaDEX stock selection methodology whereby fundamental growth and value factors are used to select and weight stocks in an effort to generate outperformance while maintaining correlation and risk characteristics similar to broad market cap-weighted indices. The move marks First Trust’s premier ETF launches on the Swiss market.

Franklin Templeton Investments has launched the Franklin Liberty International Opportunities ETF (NYSE: FLIO), a new actively managed ETF providing exposure to a well-diversified portfolio of equities from developed, developing and frontier markets outside the US, and spanning across sectors and market capitalizations. Patrick O’Connor, Global Head of ETFs for Franklin Templeton Investments, commented: “With over 75% of the world’s GDP coming from countries outside the US, investing internationally can provide portfolio diversification, which can reduce overall risk.”

Blue Sky Asset Management has launched five ETFs under its proprietary “QuantX” brand, becoming the latest player to enter the ETF space. The range includes a fund investing in large cap US equities with high upside volatility, and four dynamic asset allocation ETFs which over-weight risk assets in periods of market strength, and over-weight defensive assets in periods of market weakness. David Varadi, Director of Research at Blue Sky, said: “Our dynamic, quantitative approach provides for a more rapid response to changing markets, while filtering out the emotions that can have a negative impact on decision-making.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has broken through the psychologically important 20,000 index level for the first time in its history, driven by increased optimism about the future of the US economy under President Trump’s stewardship. Financial stocks have been among the biggest winners since the election as investors bet on higher interest rates and less regulation in coming years. The bullish run has led to significant gains for related ETFs provided by SPDR ETFs, iShares and Lyxor.

By Alex Struc, Portfolio Manager, co-Head PIMCO ESG Initiative.
France has issued its first sovereign green bond – a milestone for global investors who are exploring or emphasizing assets focused on ESG principles. Green bonds are a form of financing issued by corporations, agencies and now sovereigns with the aim of mitigating environmental concerns. Since the first green bond was issued in 2007 by the European Investment Bank, the size of the green bond universe has reached roughly $250bn.