Assets under management (AUM) of ETFs domiciled in Europe reached €622 billion at the end of October, up from €601bn the previous month, according to Thomson Reuters. October saw the addition of €6.6bn in net new assets, meaning the majority of the €20.9bn AUM gain was due to the performance of underlying markets.
Horizons ETFs Management US has entered into a strategic partnership with Cadence Capital Management to develop a series of actively managed ETFs due to launch early in 2018. The first fund will be a US equity strategy that focuses on high-quality companies from the Russell 1000 Index with above average dividend yields.
Guggenheim Investments will close and liquidate the Guggenheim Large Cap Optimized Diversification ETF (OPD US). The fund’s last trading day on the NYSE Arca will be 18 December 2017.
The world’s largest 1,200 companies distributed a third-quarter record of $328.1 billion (£248bn) in dividends, according to research from Janus Henderson, putting a new full-year record for 2017 comfortably within reach. The dividend windfall is likely to enhance the appeal of equity income ETFs to yield-seeking investors.
Stretched equity valuations have prompted the fourth consecutive week of inflows into gold ETFs, according to the latest ETF Securities’ fund flows report – a weekly analysis of capital flows across the firm’s entire ETF range.
Wei Li, head of iShares EMEA investment strategy at giant ETF issuer BlackRock, has commented on six potential ideas for investors’ portfolio allocations amidst increasing global economic expansion.
In a move reflecting trends seen in the wider asset management industry – namely the shift from active to passive – the Innovator IBD 50 Fund (FFTY US) has switched from being actively managed to passive index-tracking. The ETF, which launched in April 2015, will now track the IBD 50 Index, which had previously been used as the ETF’s performance benchmark.
Invesco has cross-listed the PowerShares Preferred Shares UCITS ETF (PRFD SW) on SIX Swiss Exchange. PRFD provides exposure to fixed rate US dollar denominated preferred securities issued in the US domestic market.
Boston-based ETF issuer O’Shares Investments has announced the closing of two ETFs which provide currency-hedged exposure to high quality dividend-paying equities listed in Europe and Asia Pacific. Connor O’Brien, CEO of O’Shares, commented: “The decision has been made to close the funds so we can direct resources to developing new O’Shares ETFs to meet investors’ demand for different strategies.”
Hang Seng Indexes has launched three indices tracking Hong Kong- and China-based equities listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that are accessible through the southbound trading link of the Stock Connect Hong Kong (SCHK) schemes.