ERI Scientific Beta has launched a long/short equity market neutral index that takes a long position in a number of portfolios designed to maximise exposure to different factors while shorting the broad cap-weighted market. The succinctly-named Scientific Beta Developed Multi-Beta Multi-Strategy Managed Volatility L/S Equity Market Neutral Index (x3.5) includes large- and mid-cap equities from global developed markets.

Change Finance, the majority women-run asset manager, has announced the launch of its first ETF, the Change Finance Diversified Impact US Large Cap Fossil Fuel Free ETF (NYSE Arca: CHGX). The ETF tracks an index that uses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to guide its stock selection.

Blockbuster performance from a number of new listings in the US market has translated into impressive returns for the First Trust US IPO Index UCITS ETF (FPX LN, FPXU FP), a London- and Paris-listed ETF providing exposure to US IPO and spin-off stocks. Holdings such as Kite Pharma, Chemours and PayPal have helped the ETF outperform the S&P 500 by 4.6% so far this year. But this is no flash-in-the-pan performance. The ETF’s underlying index created by IPO authority Joseph Schuster has delivered an annualised excess return of more than 4% p.a. over the past 10 years versus the S&P 500.

ETF and index investing “supports vibrant capital markets”, argues BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, in a research paper released in response to some commentators’ warnings about the perils of passive products, including ETFs.

 J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) has unveiled a pair of actively managed hedge fund ETFs to be listed on the London Stock Exchange. The two funds, the JPM Equity Long-Short UCITS ETF and the JPM Managed Futures UCITS ETF, will be the firm’s first ETFs to be rolled out in Europe. Commenting on the launch, Bryon Lake, international head of ETFs, JPMAM, said: “Providing investors with institutional-quality hedge fund strategies in a cost-efficient, liquid and tradeable ETF wrapper should help to advance the democratisation of hedge fund investing.”

In its third quarter 2017 financial results, BlackRock has announced its total assets under management (AUM) is closing in on $6 trillion ($5.977tn) after its iShares range of ETFs recorded strong performance between July and September. Laurence D. Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, commented: “Our continued investment in the iShares franchise is driving accelerated growth and increased market share.”

BNP Paribas has launched a currency-hedged commodity ETF, offering exposure to a diversified portfolio of futures contracts on energy and metal commodities, while hedging currency exposure between the US dollar and the euro.

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has released its monthly ETF roundup for September 2017. Total on-exchange value traded for ETFs during the month was £28.2 billion through 289k trades, up 18% compared to September 2016.

VanEck has introduced the VanEck Vectors NDR CMG Long/Flat Allocation ETF (NYSE Arca: LFEQ). Launched in collaboration with Ned Davis Research (NDR), the fund provides exposure to US large-cap equities through a guided allocation approach designed to help investors participate in bull markets and minimise losses in bear markets.

Aviva has announced it is to buy a majority shareholding in robo-advisor Wealthify. The digital investment platform was launched in April 2016 and uses algorithms to invest customers money in passive products including iShares ETFs from BlackRock. Richard Theo, co-founder and CEO of Wealthify said Aviva’s investment “reflects a clear shift in market demand for high-quality, technology-enabled financial services solutions like Wealthify”.