Despite declining fund use among advisors, traditional mutual fund managers, particularly large fund complexes, are poised to play a leading role in the next phase of the exchange-traded fund (ETF) revolution – the rollout of active ETFs – according to a report from Cogent Research. As interest in active ETFs builds, it appears that traditional fund managers are well positioned to capture (or retain) a portion of future active ETF flows.

LocalShares, a newly launched provider of exchange-traded funds focused on the potential of geographic locations, such as American cities, has rolled out its debut ETF: the Nashville Area ETF (NASH). Listed on the NYSE Arca, the fund provides exposure to publicly-traded companies located in the Nashville, Tennessee area. The fund becomes the world’s first city-based ETF – not counting ETFs based on the city-state of Singapore – and represents yet another landmark in ETF innovation.

Vanguard’s exchange-traded funds (ETFs) business, the world’s third largest in terms of assets under management behind BlackRock iShares and SSgA SPDR, is growing from strength to strength as more and more investors buy in to the firm’s low-cost, straightforward approach. The US-headquartered firm, which was founded by indexing pioneer John Bogle in 1975, has enjoyed ETF success both in its domestic US market but also overseas, including here in Europe, as well as Canada, Australia and most recently Hong Kong.

WisdomTree, a US-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider, has announced the launch of the WisdomTree US SmallCap Dividend Growth ETF (DGRS). The fund, which has been listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market, tracks the proprietary WisdomTree US SmallCap Dividend Growth Index, an index designed to provide exposure to small-cap dividend-paying stocks with growth characteristics.

By Bill Chambers, Vice President and General Manager of Wealth Solutions, Interactive Data. Money managers certainly know the importance of gauging an ETF’s liquidity. In a Greenwich Associates survey of institutional managers last year 83% of them identified “liquidity/trading volume” as their top selection criterion for ETFs. Why is that? Well the first element for consideration is that not many ETFs trade every day or in very large amounts. So if ETF volume is your biggest selection criteria your choices start getting pretty slim. In reality, investors have to go beyond just looking at the trading volume.

KraneShares, a newly launched provider of China-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs), has unveiled its debut fund, the KraneShares CSI China Five-Year Plan ETF (KFYP). The NYSE Arca-listed ETF provides exposure to China via the CSI Overseas China Five-Year Plan Index, an index which focuses on companies in the industries prioritised in China’s latest ‘Five-Year Plan’. Brendan Ahern, Managing Director of KraneShares, said: “The KraneShares CSI China Five-Year Plan ETF provides investors with an opportunity to align themselves directly with China’s current domestic investment initiatives”

Invesco PowerShares, a leading global provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), has celebrated the one-year anniversary of the PowerShares DWA SmallCap Technical Leaders Portfolio (DWAS). Since inception on July 19 last year, the ETF, which is part of a broad suite of DWA Technical Leaders ETFs, has outperformed the Russell 2000 Index market-cap weighted benchmark by a margin of 9.44%, achieving a total return of 41.84% over the one-year period compared to 32.40% for the Russell 2000.

By David Stevenson – If the sheer quantity of new product launches is any measure of the virility of a business sector, then the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and indexing sector looks to be in fine form! Barely a day goes by without a new ETF or index making its debut. Given the breadth and depth of recent launches, it’s hard to work out what might come next. Is there really anything new that’s worth turning into an ETF? I’d say a defiant yes and suggest that there are four broad categories where new ideas are needed.

Stoxx, a leading provider of securities indices, has launched the Stoxx Global 3D Printing Pure Play Index, a new index tracking the investment performance of listed pure-play 3D-printing companies. The index has been designed to underlie index-linked investment products such as certificates, notes and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Commenting on the launch, Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer of Stoxx, said: “The new index focuses solely on pure-play or highly-involved companies in the 3D-printing business, making it truly representative of this expanding market.”

S&P Dow Jones Indices has expanded its S&P GSCI commodity family with the launch of two new indices. The first of the new indices, the S&P GSCI Dynamic Roll Capped Component 35/20, is a modified version of the S&P GSCI Dynamic Roll to ensure adherence to ESMA UCITS guidelines. The second new index, the S&P GSCI Roll Weight Select, aims to reduce the negative impact of contango by modifying the weights of constituents according to the relative change in the realised roll yield.