Purpose Investments has launched a new actively managed ETF in Canada. The Purpose Enhanced Premium Yield Fund (PAYF CN) seeks to provide high monthly income by employing various option strategies, such as cash-covered puts and covered calls, within the North American equities universe.

Investors are on the cusp of the largest shift in the risk profile of emerging market benchmarks since these indexes were first launched more than 30 years ago. By the end of November, MSCI would have quadrupled China A-Shares exposure and added Saudi Arabian stocks to its flagship MSCI Emerging Markets Index. Steven A. Schoenfeld, Founder and Chief Investment Officer, BlueStar Indexes, examines how these changes are expected to affect concentration risk and why investors may wish to consider alternative index weighting approaches.

BNP Paribas Asset Management has launched a new type of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ETF that invests in companies that ascribe to the so-called ‘circular economy’ business model. Isabelle Bourcier, Head of Quantitative and Index Management at BNP Paribas Asset Management, said, “Our ambition is to expand our BNP Paribas Easy product range on ESG indexes, as well as to innovate in as-yet under-explored fields. Launching this ETF on the principle of the ‘circular economy’ is fully in line with our ambition.”

Horizons ETFs Canada has launched two new ETFs on Toronto Stock Exchange which are the world’s first to provide inverse and leveraged exposure to marijuana-related stocks. The funds provide twice the daily return and inverse daily return, respectively, of the North American MOC Marijuana Index of North American publicly listed companies with significant business activities in the marijuana industry. Steve Hawkins, President and CEO at Horizons ETFs, said, “[The ETFs] will give Canadian marijuana equity investors the opportunity to potentially generate returns in both positive and negative markets in the marijuana sector.”

JP Morgan Asset Management has launched a pound sterling-hedged share class for its European-domiciled US Treasury bond ETF. The JPM BetaBuilders US Treasury Bond UCITS ETF – GBP Hedged (BBTP LN) has listed on London Stock Exchange and comes with a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.10%, the same price tag as its unhedged counterpart. Mike Bell, Global Market Strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management, said, “For UK investors thinking about incorporating US government bond exposure, they may want to consider hedging the currency risk, given the uncertainty around the outlook for sterling against the dollar.”

We are thrilled to be working with the Qraft Technologies team to bring this timely and innovative fund to market. These funds are actively managed by the AI system AQUA which was developed by Qraft Technologies. Great colleagues and great ideas are the true drivers of ETF success. We’re very pleased to add Qraft Technologies and QRFT & AMOM to our growing list of partners and innovative ETF solutions

In a further bid to shake up the indexing space, Morningstar has introduced a comprehensive suite of fixed income indices that track the performance of all major global bond market asset classes. The indices, which have been designed for use as performance benchmarks or as bases for investable index products such as ETFs, cover Treasury, inflation-protected, government-related, corporate, securitized/covered, mortgage-backed, and asset-backed exposures. “We have constructed a comprehensive global family of bond indexes that represent discrete asset class exposures, without any gaps or overlap,” said Sanjay Arya, Head of Indexes at Morningstar.

By Lyxor Asset Management’s ETF research department.

Nothing seems to be making developed market bond yields rise at the moment, leaving investors with a serious headache – where can they find the income they need? One answer might be in emerging market bonds. Even though they’ve rallied with most other risky assets this year, there is reason to believe they could rise further from here.

JP Morgan Asset Management has partnered with China Securities Index on the development of a new strategy index – the CSI JPMorgan Yangtze River Delta Area Strategic Beta Index – that provides exposure to China A-share stocks from the Yangtze River Delta region selected through an investment process that targets companies with attractive valuations and healthy profitability.

GraniteShares has announced that its NYSE Arca-listed GraniteShares Gold Trust (BAR US) has reached $500 million in assets under management of the back uncertainty in equity markets. Will Rhind, Founder, and CEO of GraniteShares, commented, Will Rhind, Founder, and CEO of GraniteShares, commented, “We’re delighted to see investors embrace our low-cost gold offering in today’s volatile market. From the beginning, our mission at GraniteShares has been to provide unique solutions for common pain points experienced by all investors.”