ETFs/ETPs listed in the United States gathered record inflows of $47 billion during February, marking the 12th consecutive month of positive net inflows for the country, according to research from London-based ETF industry consultant ETFGI. As of the month’s end, AUM in the US ETF/ETP industry reached a new record high of $2.758 trillion.

Wealthsimple for Advisors has partnered with Forstrong Global Asset Management to facilitate Canadian financial advisors in investing client assets in any of Forstrong’s seven ETF-based actively managed investment strategies through Wealthsimple’s convenient, cost-effective platform. Tyler Mordy, President and Chief Investment Officer, Forstrong Global, commented: “Wealthsimple’s platform is a great solution for efficiently delivering our investment strategies to advisors of any dollar amount.”

Frankfurt-based index provider Solactive has launched the Solactive Digital Economy Index, which tracks the performance of 50 European stocks whose business models are likely to impacted by the process of digitisation. The index also has a smart beta tilt built in, with composition weighted towards high dividend, low volatility stocks.

Canadian institutional investors are increasingly turning to ETFs to address strategic portfolio goals, with smart beta and fixed income ETFs highlighted as key areas of growth, according to a recent Greenwich Associates study, commissioned by BlackRock Canada. Warren Collier, Head of Canada iShares for BlackRock Canada, commented: “Institutional investors’ use of ETFs has grown in absolute terms in recent years, but this survey shows that it has also grown in diversity and sophistication.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has denied approval for a proposed exchange-traded fund that tracks the price of the cryptocurrency, bitcoin. Gemini, a bitcoin exchange backed by the Winklevoss twins who found fame suing Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg, applied to list the ETF on the NYSE Arca. The SEC decision, citing the risk of fraudulent activities due to the lack of regulation in major bitcoin markets, comes after more than three years of deliberation.

Amundi ETF has attracted more than €2.2 billion net inflows year-to-date (28 February 2017), representing over 10% of total European market net new assets. The strong net inflows position the firm as the 3rd most successful gatherer of net new assets in Europe YTD. Fannie Wurtz, Managing Director of the Amundi ETF, Indexing & Smart Beta business line, commented: “Investors choose Amundi ETF as it offers them a full choice of price-competitive and innovative solutions for the different market challenges posed by the fast-changing current economic environment.”

Given the surprising voting results of the past year, elections and referenda now garner more attention than ever before — especially where there is a whiff of populism that could lead to another result in the style of Brexit or Trump. Against this backdrop, Marcel Baartman, a Senior Economist Clingendael, the Netherlands Institute for International Relations, sat down with Antoine Lesné, Head of SPDR ETF Strategy & Research, to assess the potential impact of the upcoming Dutch General Election vote.

Globally-listed ETFs and ETPs gathered a record level of $68.3 billion in net inflows in February, marking the 37th consecutive month or over three years of net inflows, according to research from ETF industry consultant ETFGI. Despite the shorter month, the level of net inflows surpassed January’s strong start to the year where investors piled $62.7bn of net new assets into the ETF/ETP industry.

By Yu-Ming Wang, CIO, Nikko Asset Management.

We are long-term, global investors, acting in the best interests of our clients. We believe that one cannot claim to be a good fiduciary, mandated to create and preserve long-term wealth, while ignoring the principles of sustainable and responsible investing. Because of this relationship between responsible investing and fiduciary responsibility, Nikko AM signed the UN PRI (Principles for Responsible Investing) in 2007, the year of its formation.

Assets invested in exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded products listed in Canada reached a new record high of US$90.6 billion at the end February 2017, making a strong statement for the 27th anniversary of the first ETF to launch on the Toronto Stock Exchange.