By Andrew D. Beer, Managing Partner of Dynamic Beta Investments.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management recently filed a registration statement for an alternative ETF that follows a time-tested investment strategy: hedge fund replication. This new ETF comes roughly a decade after Goldman launched a replication-based mutual fund, the Goldman Sachs Absolute Return Tracker (GJRTX) – a mutual fund that has outperformed the HFRX Global Investable Hedge Fund Index (the standard benchmark for many liquid alts products) by 248 bps per annum.

By Nitesh Shah, Director of Research, WisdomTree.

Investors in broad commodity ETFs have been well rewarded over the past year with the Bloomberg Commodity Index, a popular benchmark for these strategies, up over 7% since last June. This reflects strengthening commodity fundamentals with global demand still robust and supply tightness evident in some metals. Given the resulting backwardation in some commodities, does an optimised commodity strategy still make sense for investors?

The Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF has surpassed £20 billion in assets under management, becoming Europe’s second domestically domiciled and listed ETF to reach the milestone. Andreas Zingg, Head of ETF Distribution for Europe at Vanguard, commented, “We are flattered that investors have entrusted us to look after their money. Since the beginning, we’ve always viewed growth as an outcome, rather than a goal, and this is reflected in our product philosophy; offering low-cost, high-quality products that are sound, enduring, and meet our clients’ needs.”

WisdomTree has introduced a new currency-hedged share classes for its WisdomTree Enhanced Commodity UCITS ETF. The new share classes help to mitigate currency risk between the US dollar-denominated futures contracts and the euro or pound sterling.

Invesco has reduced the fees on three of its US-listed equity ETFs that provide smart beta exposure to the US market. Two of the funds target the dividend and quality factors while the third blends exposure to both value and momentum risk premia.

Tradeweb has reported that equity and fixed income ETFs saw net buying on its European ETF marketplace during July, while muted total traded volume reflected similar seasonal patterns from prior years.

Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) has unveiled details of a new index – the Topix Small500 Index – that will go live on 9 October 2018. The index will tracks exposure to the small-cap segment of Japan’s Topix Index.

Bitwise Index Services, the indexing division of Bitwise Asset Management, has launched three indices covering the mid-cap, small-cap, and total-market segments of the cryptocurrency market. Matt Hougan, Global Head of Research for Bitwise Asset Management, said the indices draw on “best practices from the modern indexing of equities, bonds, commodities, and fiat currencies, and pairs them with crypto-native factors to ensure the indices are safe and replicable.”

Stoxx has unveiled the iStoxx Yewno Developed Markets Blockchain Index targeting companies that are geared towards the development of technologies related to blockchain. The index has been launched in partnership with Yewno, a provider of Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions to the financial sector, and is set to underlie an ETF in Canada. “Blockchain is one of the most disruptive megatrends of our times and will play a major role in the transition towards a digital, highly technological world,” said Matteo Andreetto, CEO of Stoxx.

State Street Global Advisors has launched the SPDR S&P US Communication Services Select Sector UCITS ETF in Europe. Listed on LSE and Xetra, the fund provides exposure to the newly created Communication Services sector of the US equity market, as defined by the Global Industry Classification Standard. “This September, GICS will introduce a new Communication Services sector to reflect massive changes in the way we communicate, interact, and consume content,” said Mandy Chiu, head of product for SPDR ETFs in EMEA and APAC.