By David Stevenson – This week I’m going to carry on banging my contrarian drum with a call to action focused on Chinese equities. Although I wouldn’t quite come out and say that now is the right time to invest in a China ETF, I do think that astute investors should start to think long and hard about intelligent ways to buy into the right bits of the Chinese story. And the good news is that there’s a growing number of smart ETFs offering exactly the right kind of exposures.

Charles Schwab is set to roll out six new fundamentally weighted exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The funds, which will launch in the US next week, will be linked to the smart beta Russell Fundamental Index Series. Marie Chandoha, president of Charles Schwab Investment Management, said: “These ETFs add a new flavour to our ‘pure vanilla’ ETF market-cap line-up and further demonstrate our commitment to offering core products that help investors build their portfolios and potentially achieve better outcomes.”

Investors shed their optimism on emerging markets in the second quarter, according to the latest Citywire db X-trackers Emerging Market Sentiment Indicator, sponsored by exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management. Kai Bald, Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management’s Head of Public Distribution, Passive Investments, said: “The latest sentiment report is in line with the ETF flows we saw in the second quarter.”

Just when investors were beginning to think that the flurry of MLP exchange-traded product launches had slowed, Global X Funds, a New York-based provider of ETFs, rolls out a new fund on the NYSE Arca: the Global X MLP & Energy Infrastructure ETF (MLPX). The fund tracks the Solactive MLP & Energy Infrastructure Index, an index reflecting the performance of both MLPs and energy infrastructure corporations.

First Asset, an independent Canadian investment management company, has seen the highest percentage asset growth among Canadian exchange-traded fund (ETF) providers during the months of June and July, with C$47.5 million in ETF asset inflows. The firm has found success in both the fixed income and equity ETF categories through collaboration with DEX Universe Bond Indices and Morningstar Indices.

By Deborah Fuhr, managing partner and co-founder of ETFGI – Many ETF/ETP managers in Europe are adjusting their product offerings hoping to create and develop bestselling ETFs and ETPs. If ETFs fail to gain a critical level of assets after a number of years the provider is likely to consider adjusting their product set. Providers are also adjusting where they will list and cross-list their ETFs/ETPs. Many providers are reducing the number of cross-listings to save costs and concentrate on exchange liquidity.

Boost ETP, a London-based provider of short and leveraged exchange-traded products (ETPs), has unveiled a tutorial and test intended to bolster advisers’ understanding of short and leveraged products.

Blair Hull, a veteran US trader and investor, has teamed up with Exchange Traded Concepts, a firm offering turnkey exchange-traded fund (ETF) solutions, to launch an active ETF. A registration statement and preliminary prospectus has already been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund, which will be launched under the HTAA (Hull Tactical Asset Allocation) brand, will utilise advanced algorithms as well as macro and technical indicators to anticipate future market returns.

The NYSE Arca-listed Market Vectors Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond ETF (EMLC), the first US-listed ETF to focus on local currency emerging markets bonds, has celebrated its third anniversary. Since its launch in late July 2010, the fund has proved popular with investors who have been attracted to the currency and credit fundamentals many emerging markets offer.

Teucrium Trading, a US-based issuer of commodity-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs), recently celebrated the third-year anniversary of its flagship product, the NYSE Arca-listed Teucrium Corn Fund (CORN). Launched in June 2010, the fund was one of the first exchange-listed vehicles to enable a wide variety of investors to gain liquid and transparent access to corn without the use of a futures account.