Assets invested in actively managed ETFs listed globally have increased 44.9% in the first nine months of the year to reach a new record of $63.6 billion at the end of September, according to ETF industry consultancy ETFGI.

An additional four new First Trust ETFs have been approved by the Mexican pension funds investment regulator, La Comisión Nacional del Sistema de Ahorro para el Retiro (CONSAR), for sale to Mexican pension funds. The latest round of approvals brings the total number of First Trust ETFs now available for sale to Mexican pension funds to eleven.

Nebraska-based brokerage firm TD Ameritrade has announced a major increase in the scope of its commission-free ETF trading platform, tripling the number of ETFs available from 100 to 296. The expansion means TD Ameritrade now offers the largest commission-free ETF trading program in the industry.

Blockbuster performance from a number of new listings in the US market has translated into impressive returns for the First Trust US IPO Index UCITS ETF (FPX LN, FPXU FP), a London- and Paris-listed ETF providing exposure to US IPO and spin-off stocks. Holdings such as Kite Pharma, Chemours and PayPal have helped the ETF outperform the S&P 500 by 4.6% so far this year. But this is no flash-in-the-pan performance. The ETF’s underlying index created by IPO authority Joseph Schuster has delivered an annualised excess return of more than 4% p.a. over the past 10 years versus the S&P 500.

Indxx has launched a thematic index – the Indxx Climate Change Index – tracking global companies from developed markets that provide products or services to mitigate and remediate the effects of climate change. The New York-based indexing boutique hopes that the index, which has been designed with ETF product development in mind, will enable investors to take a more climate-friendly perspective as well as gain exposure to the megatrend of climate change.

As more and more of our existence becomes digitised, cybersecurity is becoming ever more important. From our work lives, to our cars, to our homes, everything is increasingly controlled by code which, in conjunction with increased connectivity, means that cybersecurity will be of paramount importance to all of us in the years to come. For investors looking to exploit this theme, there are dedicated cybersecurity ETFs offering targeted exposure.

First Trust Portfolios Canada is planning to change the name and underlying index of the First Trust AlphaDEX US Dividend ETF (CAD-Hedged) (TSX: FUD), a fund which gives investors exposure to US large-cap equities that pay higher-than-average dividends.

First Trust has unveiled the First Trust Institutional Preferred Securities and Income ETF (NYSE Arca: FPEI), an actively managed fund investing in preferred securities issued mainly to institutional-level investors.

First Trust gathered the largest net inflows into actively managed ETFs/ETPs during July with $504 million net new assets created, representing over a quarter of the $1.9 billion net inflows gathered globally over this period. According to research from ETF industry consultant ETFGI, other firms attracting significant net inflows during the month included Lyxor with $271m and Source with $153m.

First Trust has announced changes to the First Trust CBOE S&P 500 VIX Tail Hedge Fund (VIXH), transitioning the ETF to a new strategy that will harness investment advisory firm Dorsey, Wright & Associates’ research into relative strength analysis to rotate among large-cap equities and Treasuries. To reflect the changes, the fund will be rebranded the First Trust Dorsey Wright People’s Portfolio ETF (Nasdaq: DWPP).