Credit rating agency Moody’s has pointed to some unusual institutional block-trading activity in SSgA’s high yield bond ETF (JNK), which, if reflective of a rising trend across all ETFs, could prove detrimental to retail investors and ultimately harmful to ETF sponsors. The activity relates to an in-kind redemption on JNK earlier this month in which an institutional investor redeemed 19.7m shares worth $780m, causing the ETF’s price to drop from an approximate 40 bp premium to NAV to a 127 bp discount.

Last week’s news that Moody’s had upgraded Ford Motor Company to investment grade status marked the latest step in a remarkable turnaround for the company. This was the second such upgrade to Ford’s debt in as many months, following a similar move by Fitch in April. The turnaround and eventual upgrade of Ford highlights the opportunities that can exist in ETFs tracking high-yield corporate bonds – and in particular those tracking a segment known as “Fallen Angels”.

Last week saw the unveiling of a global macro allocation index from Dow Jones Indexes, reflecting a growing interest in more sophisticated proprietary-model-based indices. The Dow Jones Parala Global Sector Macro Allocation Index, launched in collaboration with London-based investment adviser Parala Capital, is underpinned by a proprietary macro allocation model which analyses broad economic and market trends with the aim of anticipating the return performance of equity sectors.

JP Morgan’s proposed physical copper ETF, the JPM XF Physical Copper Trust, has drawn criticism from several industrial copper users who fear the fund would “disrupt the world market”, “inflate prices” and ultimately “wreak havoc on the US and global economy.” These views, believed to originate from Southwire, a major US manufacturer of electrical wire and cable, and Red Kite, a London-based hedge fund and metals trader, were contained in a letter sent to the SEC.

S-Network Global Indexes has announced the launch of the S-Network Sector Dividend Dogs Index (SDOGX). The SDOGX is a portfolio of 50 higher-yielding stocks derived from the S&P 500. The SDOGX selects the five stocks in each of the ten GICS sectors that make up the S&P 500 which offer the highest dividend yields as of the last trading day of November. The index has been licensed to the pending ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF.

STOXX has announced the introduction of the STOXX Europe ESG Leaders 50, EURO STOXX ESG Leaders 50, STOXX Asia/Pacific ESG Leaders 50 and STOXX North America ESG Leaders 50 indices. The index universe for these new blue-chip indices is the STOXX Global ESG Leaders Index. Index constituents are selected based on the free-float market capitalisation, and are weighted according to their overall ESG rating, i.e. the average of their Environmental, Social and Governance score.

UBS has announced the launch of two new ETRACS ETNs designed to deliver high monthly income and leveraged exposure to blue-chip dividend indices. The two ETNs, the ETRACS Monthly Pay 2x Leveraged Dow Jones Select Dividend Index ETN (DVYL) and the ETRACS Monthly Pay 2x Leveraged S&P Dividend ETN (SDYL), are linked to indices tracking high-dividend-paying companies in the US which have been screened to ensure that only companies with sustainable dividend policies are included.

The success of ETF managed portfolios is emerging as a major theme in the US, as a new breed of investment advisers specialising in providing outsourced ETF portfolio management solutions win an ever larger share of financial-adviser-directed assets. That’s one of the key findings of new research released by iShares, focused on the emergence of ‘ETF Investment Strategists’.

Amundi, the company behind the Amundi ETF product range, has formed a strategic partnership with ‘smart beta’ specialists TOBAM. The partnership includes a distribution agreement under which Amundi, with its wide-reaching international distribution capabilities, will make TOBAM’s “Anti-Benchmark” strategies available to its clients. These strategies are designed to outperform traditional market-cap-weighted indices with lower risk by providing maximum diversification within an investment universe.

SPDR ETFs, the ETF platform of investment giant State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), has listed four new physically-backed fixed income ETFs on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Three of the funds provide access to the UK gilt market, while the fourth provides access to investment-grade sterling-denominated corporate bonds. All four of the funds have highly competitive expense ratios, track key fixed income benchmarks and are ideally suited as core portfolio building blocks.