Barclays and Time Inc have announced they have entered into an exclusive agreement to launch a new family of indices based on the Fortune 500, the annual list of the largest public and private corporations in the US ranked by revenue. The indices, which will focus on listed stocks, will be designed to be investable and thus suitable to underlie index-linked investment products such as ETFs.

Guggenheim Investments has halved the management fee charged on its $13bn S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (NYSE Arca: RSP), from 0.40% to 0.20% in a bid to position itself as one of the lowest cost providers of smart beta ETF strategies. Douglas Mangini, head of intermediary distribution at Guggenheim, commented: “This significant fee reduction is designed to benefit existing shareholders and acknowledge the increasing use of RSP by institutional and individual investors as a core equity holding.”

UK-based wealth manager Tavistock has introduced three new ETF-based portfolios as an extension of its Acumen range of investment solutions. The new launches include the Acumen bond portfolio, which invests in global bonds (developed and emerging); the Acumen Equity Portfolio, which invests in global equities; and the Acumen Strategic Portfolio, which invests in a range of asset classes.

State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) has announced it will close 19 SPDR ETFs listed in the US. Of the 19 funds, all except one give exposure to equities domiciled outside the US. The largest ETF being closed is the SPDR S&P International Health Care Sector ETF (IRY) which was launched in July 2008 and has $198 million in assets under management.

FTSE Russell has launched the FTSE Blossom Japan Index, tracking the performance of Japanese firms which have scored highly in an analysis of their environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices. The index may be used as a benchmark for discretionary fund management or as the underlying for investment products including ETFs.

Leading index provider to the exchange-traded funds industry MSCI has launched two new Japan equity indices utilising environmental, social and governance (ESG) screening criteria – the MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index and the MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index.

BlackRock has announced it will transition 50 iShares ETFs from NYSE Arca to either the Nasdaq or Bats exchanges on or about 1 August 2017. Bats will take 30 of the ETFs while the remaining 20 will move to Nasdaq.

Over $1 trillion in exchange-traded product assets globally are linked to indices managed by S&P Dow Jones Indices, according to the firm’s annual survey of assets as of 31 December 2016. The total of $1.041tn linked to the firm’s index suite represented 29.3% of the total global ETP industry assets ($3.546tn) according to ETF industry consultant ETFGI.

ETFGI has reported that assets invested in ETFs and ETPs listed in Europe have reached a new record high of $682 billion at the end of May 2017, up 3.7% from the $658bn seen at the end of the previous month. The report goes on to say that assets invested in Europe-listed ETFs/ETPs have increased by 19% from $572bn year-to-date.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has called for greater fee transparency in the asset management industry as part of a package of remedies to address concerns highlighted by a recent market study. The move is expected to increase demand for low cost, transparent products, such as ETFs, by bringing to light hidden charges contained within many actively managed funds.