Research from Legal & General Investments, one of the UK’s largest investment providers, has shown that financial advisers are viewing passive investments far more favourably compared to 2011. When asked into which asset classes they would be investing over the next 12 months, nearly two in five IFAs (38%) indicated they would be buying passive funds, an increase of 7% on 2011, when only three in 10 had passive investments in their sights.

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to the US homebuilding industry have been boomed this year, as US house prices and home sales have rebounded. Leading the pack has been the highly targeted iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction Index ETF (ITB), which has rallied over 51% year to date. Meanwhile the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB), the largest homebuilder ETF by assets, has gained 37%. Recent data suggest the strong performance of ETFs such as these will continue.

STOXX, a leading European index provider, has expanded its product offering with the roll-out of 19 broad, size and blue-chip indices covering Emerging and Developed Markets, East Asia, and Africa. “With the expansion of our STOXX Emerging and Developed Markets Index offering, as well as the launch of new regional indices, we are broadening the coverage of the world’s markets with innovative and rules-based STOXX indices,” said Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, STOXX.

PowerShares Canada has announced the launch of the PowerShares Tactical Bond ETF (PTB), an actively managed fixed income ETF that seeks to provide both income and capital growth. Strategically diversified across fixed income asset classes, the fund will invest primarily in a mix of Canadian government, investment-grade corporate and real return bonds, and US high-yield bonds.

The Global X SuperDividend ETF (SDIV), an NYSE-listed high income ETF offered by New York-based Global X Funds, has reached $100 million in assets in little over a year since the fund made its debut. Commenting on the milestone, Bruno del Ama, CEO of Global X Funds, said: “The Global X SuperDividend ETF, with over $100 million in assets and a 30-day average daily volume of over 100,000 shares, has been one of the fastest growing products by inflows over the last year.”

BlackRock Canada has announced the launch of the CAD-hedged iShares US High Dividend Equity Index Fund (XHD). The TSX-listed exchange-traded fund (ETF) seeks to deliver long-term capital growth by tracking the Morningstar Dividend Yield Focus Index. The index provides access to first-class, dividend-paying US companies that have been screened for superior company quality and financial health, with the added benefit of liquidity.

A comprehensive study into securities lending in physically-replicated exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by Morningstar has revealed that transparency and safeguards have generally improved following investor concern over counterparty and collateral risks. However, there is still room for improvement across the industry.

Investors have unfairly penalised the European insurance sector by rating it the same as banks, yet earnings and dividend growth are markedly superior and the risk profile different, according to a report from investment bank Nomura. The investment bank finds the reluctance to own European insurance stocks hard to understand and believes the sector is due for a re-rating. An efficient way for investors to gain exposure to this sector is via a European insurance exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Five new ETFs from Deutsche Bank’s exchange-traded fund (ETF) platform, db X-trackers, mean that more than 1,000 ETFs are now tradable on Deutsche Börse’s Xetra. The exchange’s comprehensive ETF offering, together with an average monthly trading volume of €12 billion, makes Xetra one of the most important trading venues for ETFs in Europe.

Contrary to what you might expect, internet and social media exchange-traded funds (ETFs), such the PowerShares Nasdaq Internet Portfolio ETF (PNQI), the First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index ETF (FDN) and the Global X Social Media ETF (SOCL), have held up relatively well this year despite the slump in well-known names such as Facebook, Groupon, Zynga and Angie’s List.