CSOP Asset Management has announced the launch of the CSOP Hong Kong Dollar Money Market ETF (3053 HK) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The actively managed fund invests in Hong Kong dollar-denominated short-term deposits, including commercial paper, certificates of deposits and commercial bills. It is benchmarked against 3-month HIBOR and becomes the first money market ETF available in the territory.
BlackRock, the asset management giant behind the iShares range of ETFs, has pointed to rising interest rates and de-risking as two big drivers of fixed income trade activity during Q2 2018. Brett Olson, head of iShares EMEA fixed income, commented, “Following greater clarity from the Fed, investors are using ETFs to position portfolios for rising rates. Floating rate bond ETFs proved to be a popular solution for investors globally.”
Opus Capital Management has become the latest US investment advisor to enter the ETF space with the launch of the Opus Small Cap Value Plus ETF (OSCV US) on NYSE Arca.
Invesco Canada has reduced the fees on several of its ETFs. The funds have also been renamed, dropping the PowerShares brand in favour of Invesco.
REX Shares has announced it is closing the REX VolMAXX Long VIX Futures Strategy ETF (VMAX US), currently trading on Cboe BZX. VMAX provides investors with exposure to the VIX via weekly futures.
Vanguard has launched an ETF tracking the performance of the DAX, the leading German equity index. The DAX provides investors with exposure to the 30 largest and most important companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange by exchange turnover and market cap. Thomas Merz, head of distribution, Europe ex-UK at Vanguard, commented, “The Vanguard DAX UCITS ETF is designed to help investors putting together high-quality, balanced, diversified portfolios.”
Activity on the Tradeweb’s European ETF marketplace showed no signs of slowing down in June, as notional volume surpassed €23 billion for the second time on record. Adriano Pace, head of equities (Europe) at Tradeweb, said, “Institutional trading of ETFs continues to grow on Tradeweb, as demonstrated by the 101% increase in European ETF average daily volumes year-over-year.”
Amplify ETFs has announced its flagship fund, the Nasdaq-listed Amplify Online Retail ETF (IBUY US), has reached $500m in assets under management since its launch in April 2016. Christian Magoon, founder and CEO of Amplify ETFs, said, “We knew when we launched IBUY in April 2016 it had potential to be disruptive. Now with more than $500 million in assets and positive performance we feel investors have affirmed IBUY’s position as a bellwether ETF for the evolving retail sector.”
Northern Trust’s FlexShares has expanded its fixed income lineup with the launch of the FlexShares High Yield Value-Scored Bond Index Fund (HYGV US) on NYSE Arca. “Our new value-scored high-yield fund offers investors an innovative approach to income generation by focusing on maximizing the value factor to enhance total return potential,” said Mark Carlson, senior investment strategist at FlexShares.
Aberdeen Standard Investments has unveiled the SMARTER Beta Multifactor Equity Indices. Covering global, regional, and single-country exposures across developed and emerging markets, the suite includes diversified, high income and ESG offerings. “The new equity indices are purely multifactor in approach as we believe that this approach helps to mitigate the effects of drawdowns relative to equivalent market-capitalisation weighted indices,” said Sean Phayre, global head of quantitative investments at Aberdeen Standard Investments.