NYSE Arca, the largest listing venue for ETFs in the US, suffered a trading glitch on 20 March 2017, affecting the closing auctions of hundreds of ETFs. The problem followed a system upgrade that morning and forced the exchange to suspend trading and cancel open orders for all listings at 4.13pm that afternoon. Four of the five largest ETFs in the world, including the iShares S&P 500 Core ETF (NYSE Arca: IVV) and the Vanguard Total Market ETF (NYSE Arca: VTI), were among those affected.

New York-based alternative investment firm Saba Capital has launched the Saba Closed-End Funds ETF (Bats: CEFS), an actively managed ETF providing a high level of income by investing in closed-end funds trading at a discount to net asset value. Boaz Weinstein, Founder and Chief Investment Officer at Saba, said: “In an environment where investors are searching for yield, we believe closed-end funds offer high income and a margin of safety due to the discount.”

FTSE Russell has launched two new sector-specific indices tracking firms listed on Singapore Exchange. The FTSE ST Consumer Goods & Services Index tracks large, mid and small cap companies operating in the consumer goods or services sectors, while the FTSE ST Consumer Goods & Services Liquid 20 Index goes a step further by applying additional liquidity-screening rules. The indices may serve as the underlying for future investment products, including ETFs.

TD Asset Management has launched a suite of low-cost managed portfolios made up of TD index-tracking ETFs. Paul Orlander, President of TD Mutual Funds, commented: “These portfolios have been carefully constructed by TDAM’s team of investment professionals and are designed to act as diversified, low-cost investment vehicles to meet a wide range of investor needs.”

Liquid Capital has become the 22nd market maker in the ETF segment of SIX Swiss Exchange. The firm now quotes prices for a total of 24 fixed income ETFs, primarily those offering government bond exposures. The London-based company is part of the Liquid Capital Group which operates globally with further offices in Sydney, Hong Kong and Chengdu and trades on over 25 exchanges. It has been a trading participant of SIX since October 2016.

The hedge fund industry experienced its fastest rate of fund closures last year since 2008, according to a report from Hedge Fund Research, leading many investors to explore similar strategies through alternate vehicles, including ETFs. While hedge fund performance was mixed in 2016, Kenneth Heinz, President of Hedge Fund Research, believes performance in 2017 will be strong across a range of strategies, driven by the continuation of macroeconomic normalization.

Deutsche Asset Management, the investment arm of the German banking behemoth, has launched an income-accumulating share class of the db x-trackers II EUR High Yield Corporate Bond UCITS ETF (XHYA) on Deutsche Börse’s Xetra and Frankfurt exchanges. The fund provides access to euro-denominated corporate bonds with credit ratings below investment grade.

High yield corporate bond funds suffered large outflows in the first two weeks of March as an interest rate rise in the US and a sinking oil price drove investors away from the asset class. Investors pulled out $5.7 billion from junk bond funds in the week up to 15 March, according to EPFR Global, a provider of flow data on ETF and mutual funds.

Tokyo Stock Exchange and Nikkei have launched the JPX-Nikkei Mid and Small Cap Index tracking the equities performance of approximately 200 small and mid-cap stocks that are selected using a smart beta approach with a focus on quality companies. The index is based on the same concept as the popular JPX-Nikkei 400 Index, which underlies several ETFs, including from Lyxor, Source, Nomura, Amundi, Deutsche Asset Management and iShares.

Europe-listed ETFs have seen a strong start to 2017, recording €9.4 billion in net new assets during February, nearly twice the one-year average of €4.9bn, according to research from Lyxor. Marlène Hassine Konqui, Head of ETF research at Lyxor said: “Both developed and emerging markets equity and fixed income ETFs saw positive flows in a risk-on environment supported by an upbeat picture of macroeconomic data across markets.”