Bloomberg, a leading financial data provider, has agreed to buy Barclays’ fixed income indexing and risk analytics business in a deal worth approximately £520m. The acquisition positions Bloomberg as a major index player in the fast-growing exchange-traded funds industry. Deborah Fuhr, Managing Partner at ETFGI, an independent research and consulting firm, said: “Bloomberg’s announced acquisition of Barclays’ index business is significant news as Barclays is the dominant provider of fixed income indices. Based on findings in our end of November report, Barclays is currently the fourth largest provider of indices used by ETFs/ETPs listed globally ranked by assets invested in the products.”

Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM), the asset management arm of the global investment bank, has plans to add to their growing lineup of smart beta exchange-traded funds with the launch of a new environmental and social responsibility-based ETF, according to a filing made with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The Goldman Sachs S&P 500 Environmental & Socially Responsible ETF is expected to track an index of companies meeting environmental and socially responsible investing criteria while maintaining a risk and performance profile similar to the underlying reference, the S&P 500 Index.

Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (Deutsche AWM), the asset manager behind the db x-trackers range of exchange-traded funds, has launched a quality-weighted eurozone sovereign bond ETF, marking its entry into the fixed income smart beta market. “The aim of this ETF is to provide a straightforward method of acquiring quality-focused sovereign bond exposure, and to provide investors with the potential for an improved risk versus return profile,” said Martin Weithofer, Deutsche AWM’s head of strategic beta. “The quality weighted index provides similar returns to the traditional index but with potentially lower volatility and a smaller maximum peak-to-trough decline.”

BlackRock, the parent of the exchange-traded funds giant iShares, has expanded its iShares FactorSelect ETF product suite with the introduction of an emerging markets-focused smart beta ETF. “The iShares FactorSelect ETF suite enables investors to seek the potential performance and diversification benefits offered by four well known investment factors in an easy and cost efficient way. With the launch of EMGF we have rounded out the suite, giving US investors the added flexibility to choose multi-factor exposures across domestic, international and/or emerging markets,” said Robert Nestor, Managing Director and Head of iShares Smart Beta Strategy at BlackRock.

Pacer ETFs, an issuer of strategy-driven exchange-traded funds, has announced the launch of its first two ETFs to offer exposure to equities outside the US. The funds use systematic trend following strategies to manage equity and currency market exposure respectively. “After the great initial success of our three US Trendpilot ETFs, we decided to apply the strategy internationally. I think it is something that investors should use across their investments to avoid major downtrends,” said Joe Thomson, Chairman and President of Pacer ETFs.

Recent economic data makes the decision of the Federal Open Market Committee on 16 December less clear-cut than the market seems to think, according to Source, a leading European exchange-traded fund provider. Paul Jackson, Head of Multi-Asset Research at Source, said that, despite the dip in ISM Manufacturing data, he still believes the Fed will raise interest rates. “Our research shows that since the mid-1930s there were only two periods of monetary tightening out of 16 during which investors lost money on the S&P 500. It is important, therefore, to counter misperceptions that a rate hike is necessarily bad news for markets.”

Lipper, a global leader in fund flow data, has released November figures for the European exchange-traded fund industry showing strong growth with assets under management (AUM) increasing by €13.1bn during the month. The increase was driven by a combination of market performance (+€10.0bn) and net inflows which accounted for €3.1bn. AUM in the European ETF industry now stands at €457.4bn with the majority held in equity funds (€334.8bn), followed by bond funds (€105.6bn) and commodity products (€13.1bn).

Eaton Vance, the investment manager behind the NextShares active exchange-traded fund structure, has announced that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has declared their approval for a range of NextShares funds. The funds are the first of the NextShares products to gain approval from the SEC and the news marks an important milestone in the development of the active ETF industry. “Today’s action by the SEC is the last regulatory step required to launch the initial NextShares funds,” said Stephen W. Clarke, President of NextShares Solutions. “We look forward to the staged introduction of NextShares beginning in the first quarter of 2016.”

Asia Index, a joint-venture between S&P Dow Jones Indices, a leading global index provider, and BSE, India’s first stock exchange, has launched four smart beta indices tracking the factor performances of Indian equities. Alka Banerjee, CEO of Asia Index, commented: “With the launch of the S&P BSE Factor Indices, we aim to broaden the S&P BSE Index family to cater to the demand of the investor base who continuously seek dynamic strategies that offer their own risk premia.”

Elkhorn Capital Group, the research-based investment solutions provider, has launched a US equity income exchange-traded fund based on a strategy created by Research Affiliates, one of the pioneers of smart beta investing, and the methodology of index provider FTSE Russell. “We are excited to be partnering with leading global innovators like Research Affiliates and FTSE Russell,” said Ben Fulton, Founder and CEO of Elkhorn. “Income remains an important area of need for investors and Research Affiliates brings a new and thoughtful approach to high yield equity investing.”