By Joe Foster, portfolio manager for the gold and precious metals strategy at VanEck.

Anyone hoping that Washington DC would become fiscally responsible under Republican Party rule has seen their hopes go up in flames, as new tax rules appear likely to drive the US deeper into debt.

Trading activity on the Tradeweb European-listed ETF marketplace fell just shy of €20 billion during January 2018, setting a new monthly record by smashing the platform’s previous strongest performance of €17.74bn set in May 2017. Commenting on the new record, Adriano Pace, managing director for equity derivatives at Tradeweb, said, “This year promises to be very exciting for European ETFs.”

January 2018 marked the twenty-fourth consecutive month of net inflows into US-listed ETFs/ETPs, reports ETF industry consultant ETFGI. Assets invested across the country’s ETF industry rose by a record $219 billion during the month, consisting of $78.8bn in net new money.

BNP Paribas has introduced a distributing share class for the BNP Paribas Easy High Yield Europe Defensive UCITS ETF, a recently launched fund offering exposure to the European high yield credit market while hedging against market downturns through the use of a protective put strategy.

Innovation Shares, a sponsor of thematic ETFs, has unveiled the Innovation Shares NextGen Vehicles & Technology ETF (EKAR US) on the NYSE Arca. The fund uses an Artificial Intelligence (AI) stock selection approach to track the global electric and driverless vehicles market.

Global ETPs raked in $100.6 billion in net inflows during January, eclipsing the previous monthly inflow record of $68.7bn set in September 2008, while EMEA-listed ETPs gathered $14.1bn in January, equalling the largest monthly inflow of all time in January 2015, according to BlackRock’s latest ETP Landscape report. Patrick Mattar, iShares EMEA capital markets team at BlackRock, looks at the key themes behind the month’s record flows.

Franklin Templeton Investments has added four new ETFs to its line-up of passively managed country and regional funds, introducing exposures to equities listed in India, Russia, Asia Pacific ex-Japan, and Switzerland. Patrick O’Connor, head of global ETFs at Franklin Templeton Investments, said, “Our suite of passive country- and region-specific ETFs has been well received in the marketplace, as clients look for low-cost vehicles that can be used to access different exposures for their portfolios or solutions capabilities.”

Assets invested in ETFs and ETPs broke through the $5 trillion milestone during January, finishing the month at $5.15tn, according to analysis from London-based ETF industry consultants ETFGI.

Vanguard has changed the underlying index for the Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ US) from the MSCI US REIT Index to the MSCI US Investable Market Real Estate 25/50 Transition Index, including a broader scope of real estate related companies such as those involved in services and development.

Harvest Portfolios Group has launched the Blockchain Technologies ETF (HBLK CN), the first of its kind to list on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The fund targets exposure to equity securities of North American companies that are poised to potentially benefit from the development and implementation of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies. Michael Kovacs, CEO of Harvest Portfolios Group, commented, “Canada’s first blockchain ETF is designed to provide investors with access to this rapidly developing market segment.”