BMO Asset Management has expanded its range of socially responsible fixed income ETFs in Canada with the launch of a new fund targeting the US dollar high-yield corporate bond market.

BMO Global Asset Management has introduced an assortment of innovation-themed equity ETFs on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Samsung Asset Management Hong Kong has rolled out an ETF providing targeted exposure to high-yielding real estate investment trusts (REITs) trading in the developed Asia Pacific region.

Horizons has launched a new ETF in Canada providing tax-efficient exposure to emerging market equities.

BMO Global Asset Management has launched a new fixed income ETF that is the first to provide targeted exposure to Canadian mortgage-backed securities.

Horizons ETFs Canada has lowered the total cost of ownership of the Horizons Nasdaq 100 Index ETF (HXQ CN) by switching the fund’s replication method from synthetic to direct physical replication. Following the change, the fund is now the cheapest ETF in the country to provide exposure to the pre-eminent large-cap growth index.

Canadian ETF issuer CI First Asset has launched its first fund aimed at environmental, social, and governance (ESG) conscious investors: the CI First Asset MSCI World ESG Impact ETF (CESG CN) on NEO Exchange. Rohit Mehta, President of CI First Asset ETFs, said the fund provides “a meaningful way for investors to diversify their portfolios while allocating capital towards some of today’s most pressing global issues.”

BMO Global Asset Management is to withdraw from the European ETF market. In a letter to shareholders in its ETFs, the asset manager announced its intention to close all of its London-listed ETFs and cease managing ETFs domiciled in Europe. It said the decision was based on a variety of factors, including the current level of assets under management and projected asset growth in the current market environment. The ETF closures raise some important questions with respect to fund due diligence and issuer viability.

By Terry Wood, Head of ETF Portfolio Management, EMEA at BMO Global Asset Management.

As a substitute risk-on asset class, over the longer term, global high yield bonds have provided equity-like returns with lower volatility than equities, especially when currency hedging is considered.

The Investment Association (IA), the trade body representing UK fund managers, has given the green light for ETFs to be added to its fund sectors from Q1 2020. The IA sectors provide a way of dividing the more than 3500 funds on sale in the UK into broad groups to aid comparison of similar funds. Galina Dimitrova, Director of Investment and Capital Markets at the IA, said, “We want to ensure that the IA sectors reflect the full range of products the asset management industry has to offer…ETFs are a growing part of this market and their inclusion in the sectors will enable consumers to compare across a wider variety of products.”