The European Commission has formally announced they have blocked the proposed merger of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Deutsche Börse, in a move that confirms widespread market expectations. Had it been allowed, the £24 billion union of Europe’s two largest exchange operators would have overseen a combined market share of around 70% of ETF trading volume in Europe.
Canada-based Horizons ETFs has filed its final prospectus to launch the Horizons Medical Marijuana Life Sciences ETF (HMMJ), which has been granted conditional approval for listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange on 5 April 2017. The fund will be the first ETF to offer direct exposure to North American-listed stocks that are involved with medical marijuana bioengineering and production. The underlying North American Medical Marijuana Index is up a whopping 146.3% over the past year.
Digital investment manager Scalable Capital has doubled its assets under management (AUM) in the past three months and now manages €200 million on behalf of its clients. The strong growth in AUM marks Scalable Capital as one of the fastest-growing fintech companies in Europe. Adam French, Founder and CEO of Scalable Capital, commented: “Our service has really struck a chord with frustrated retail investors who know that they should be making their money work harder.”
The NewGold ETF has launched on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, becoming Kenya’s first ETF to list in the country.
Direxion has launched the Direxion Auspice Broad Commodity Strategy ETF (NYSE: COM) which seeks to provide total return that exceeds that of the Auspice Broad Commodity Index over a complete market cycle. The index utilizes a rules-based process to capture trends in 12 diversified commodity markets using a quantitative methodology. Positions in each of the 12 commodities can be either long or flat, based on risk reduction where the allocation of individual components is reduced if volatility exceeds certain predetermined risk levels.
By Yacov Arnopolin, Executive Vice President, Emerging Markets Portfolio Manager, PIMCO.
As 2017 progresses and the priorities of the Trump administration take shape, the outlook for emerging markets (EM) has evolved from uncertain to promising. What has changed so quickly? Several important concerns that weighed on the sector since late last year have subsided, allowing the relatively strong fundamentals in many EM countries to shine and driving an impressive recovery in EM bonds.
Nikko Asset Management has launched the Nikko AM-Straits Trading Asia ex-Japan REIT ETF (SGX: CFA), a new ETF on the Singapore Exchange tracking the performance of Asian real estate investment trusts (REITs).
A majority of IFAs (56%) expect assets under management in exchange-traded funds globally to rise further in 2017, according to research from Source. Only 3% of IFAs surveyed reported an expected decrease in global ETF assets during the year while just over a quarter (26%) expect it to stay the same. The findings follow record in-flows of $389 billion into ETFs in 2016.
Investment research firm Morningstar has published the latest instalment of its ETF Managed Portfolios Landscape Report. The report, which covers the fourth quarter of 2016 and tracks 881 strategies from 162 US-based firms, found that total assets in these strategies increased 2.2% over this period to $86.7 billion. The strong net gatherings of $1.9bn marks the fourth consecutive quarter of growth in the US ETF managed portfolios space.
Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors has announced the acquisition of the asset management businesses of Efficient Market Advisors, a registered investment advisory firm and leading ETF strategist platform with approximately $1.1 billion in assets under advisement. Herb Morgan, Founder, CEO and CIO of Efficient Markets Advisors, commented: “We are thrilled to join forces with one of the world’s most storied and dynamic financial service brands and marry our sought-after investment approach with the depth and breadth of Cantor Fitzgerald’s financial services platform.”