All entries by this author

S&P DJI launches low volatility smart beta index designed to closely track the S&P 500

Dec 7th, 2015 | By
Invesco launches US insurance ETF

S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI), one of the world’s leading providers of financial market indices and a major player in the exchange-traded funds industry, has announced the launch of the S&P 500 Low Volatility Target Beta Index. “The S&P 500 Low Volatility Target Beta Index is a dynamic index,” commented Vinit Srivastava, Senior Director, Strategy Indices, S&P Dow Jones Indices. “The index measures the performance of low volatility stocks within the S&P 500, while maintaining the S&P 500’s level of overall market risk.”


Tilney set to launch smart beta range of funds

Dec 4th, 2015 | By
Deutsche launches two strategic beta min vol ETFs

Tilney, a UK-based investment manager, is set to reveal its intention to launch a new range of smart beta funds. These risk-graded, multi-asset funds aim to provide a lower cost investment solution with the potential to outperform traditional passive indices. Miles Robinson, Head of Tilney for Intermediaries, commented: “There’s a clear increase in demand from advisers for lower cost investment solutions, but many advisers also recognise there are significant drawbacks with traditional passive products, which leave their clients’ assets fully exposed to the risks of valuation bubbles and also losses in overall market downturns.”


BATS exchange growth continues with listing of Alpha Architect’s latest smart beta ETF

Dec 3rd, 2015 | By
Vanguard UCITS ETFs move to T+2 settlement

BATS Global Markets (BATS), a leading US-based exchange, has welcomed the listing of the MomentumShares US Quantitative Momentum ETF (QMOM), drawing attention to the attractiveness of their exchange as a destination for the listing of ETFs. BATS ranks as the top exchange operator for ETF trading in the US with the BATS Exchanges executing 26.5% of all ETF trading in November. The growing popularity of ETFs as the product wrapper of choice for investors coupled with the firm’s efforts to encourage ETF trading on their platform have been a key driver of this success.


Tierra Funds launches first ETF focused on Latin American real estate

Dec 3rd, 2015 | By
Latin America ETFs - Commodities and domestic consumption boost LatAm equities

Tierra Funds, an exchange-traded fund sponsor focused on the Americas region, has introduced the Tierra XP Latin America Real Estate ETF (LARE), the first US listed ETF to deliver access to real estate investment trusts (REITs) and real estate operating companies (REOCs) in Latin America. The ETF is designed to tap into the growth potential and opportunities in the Latin American property market. “LARE offers investors both current income and growth potential as well as access to local real estate equities that are otherwise not available in competing products,” said James Anderson, Managing Partner at Tierra Funds.


Alpha Architect rolls out ‘quality’ momentum smart beta ETF

Dec 3rd, 2015 | By
MSCI reports all factor indices positive for third consecutive month

Alpha Architect, an investment firm and exchange-traded fund designer, has launched a US equity ETF providing exposure to stocks with high quality momentum characteristics in an attempt to generate market beating returns. “We believe our edge is robust: we design systematic investment programs that seek to exploit mispricing caused by irrational investors,” said Founder and CIO, Wesley R. Gray, Ph.D. “We invest the majority of our resources in research and development, with a focus on understanding how investor psychology affects stock prices. QMOM seeks to exploit the so-called momentum anomaly in a systematic, high-conviction, tax-efficient, and affordable way.”


SSGA introduces first fossil fuel free S&P 500 ETF

Dec 2nd, 2015 | By
Emerge rolls out sustainable multi-manager global equity ETF

State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), the asset manager behind the SPDR range of exchange-traded funds, has announced the listing of the SPDR S&P 500 Fossil Fuel Free ETF (SPYX). This ETF is designed to help investors seeking to eliminate fossil fuel reserves from their portfolio while maintaining exposure to the core of the S&P 500 Index. According to SSGA, a growing number of endowments, pension funds and other institutions are adapting their investment portfolios to accommodate for the risks associated with climate change. SPYX is a potential solution for investors who want to divest from fossil fuel reserves, whether due to concerns over climate change or from financial and investment motives.


Smart beta gathering momentum amongst European investors

Dec 2nd, 2015 | By
Pacer ETFs modifies Trendpilot strategy with new ‘Extreme Valuation Trigger’

A new survey from Invesco Powershares, a leading exchange-traded fund issuer, has revealed strong momentum in smart beta adoption with over two thirds of investors expected to increase their allocation over the next three years. It paints a positive picture for smart beta growth, with 60% of users feeling that smart beta will become a widely accepted investment strategy over the next few years. The transparent and rules-based nature of smart beta strategies has made them an ideal candidate for the ETF wrapper. Global net inflows into ETFs support this with £53.7bn of assets being gathered by smart beta ETFs in the first 10 months of 2015 alone, according to industry consultant ETFGI.


Scientific Beta introduces quality-based multi-factor indices

Dec 1st, 2015 | By
Quality best performing factor in 2017, reports FTSE and OpenheimerFunds

ERI Scientific Beta, the smart beta indexing initiative spun out off EDHEC-Risk Institute, has announced the release of a new suite of multi-factor smart beta indices based around fundamental measures of quality, namely high profitability and low investment. The combination of these factors has culminated in the firm’s Quality Multi-Beta Indices, a rules-based investable index which could form the basis of an exchange-traded fund. According to Scientific Beta, the high profitability and low investment risk factors have been identified in academic literature as a source of higher returns in the long-term when compared to market cap-weighted benchmarks.


Deutsche AWM introduces smart beta ETFs on US platform

Dec 1st, 2015 | By
db X-trackers lists first physically replicated ETFs

Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (Deutsche AWM), the asset manager behind the Deutsche X-trackers brand of exchange-traded funds, has launched a pair of smart beta ETFs offering exposure to US and international equities. The ETFs are based on academically-proven characteristics that influence the risk and performance of stocks. “We believe this new suite complements our expertise and commitment to bringing innovative and relevant investment solutions to market, as we have seen growing investor interest in market factor diversification in addition to traditional sector and country diversification,” said Fiona Bassett, Head of Passive in the Americas.


IG accelerates ETF initiative with acquisition of InvestYourWay

Nov 27th, 2015 | By
IG reinforce ETF offering with InvestYourWay acquisition

IG Group, an online trading platform, has announced the acquisition of InvestYourWay, an online investment manager that builds bespoke investment solutions. Michael Newell (pictured), Founder and CEO of InvestYourWay, has joined IG to help develop the offering. Ian Peacock, Head of IG UK, commented: “We’re delighted to have acquired such an innovative business as InvestYourWay and look forward to working alongside Michael in his new role at IG. We believe that by combining InvestYourWay’s innovative technology and IG’s world class platform and development expertise we’ll be able to build a truly best in class offering in the investments space in partnership with BlackRock.