London-based investment research and advisory firm Elston Consulting has celebrated the one year anniversary since the launch of its two smart beta indexes, reflecting the success of smaller players in the smart beta space.The Elston Strategic Beta Global Maximum Sharpe Index and the Elston Strategic Beta Global Minimum Volatility Index use a risk-based methodology compared to the more commonly used factor-based approach. The dynamic, multi-asset strategies use long-only ETFs and are denominated in British pounds.

RBC Global Asset Management (RBC GAM), a division of the Royal Bank of Canada, has launched a suite of exchange-traded funds offering international exposure to global companies. Three of the four new ETFs are factor based funds with screens across dividends, quality and value, while the remaining ETF invests in short duration, investment grade, corporate and government securities. All funds are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the new additions bring the total number of ETFs issued by RBC Global to 24. Fees range from 0.22% and 0.64%.

Oppenheimer Funds, a leading global asset manager, has entered the smart beta exchange-traded funds space with the launch of eight new ETFs. All the funds are revenue-weighted and come in direct response to client demand, who want an ETF with the benefits of an active strategy. In December, the firm completed its acquisition of VTL Associates, known for its RevenueShares range of ETFs. It has subsequently re-branded the suite of products, which offers global and regional equity exposures while weighting constituents based on their top line revenue. A revenue-weighted approach may contain benefits over alternative weighting schemes.

Aequitas NEO, a Canada-based start-up stock exchange, has announced the first exchange-traded fund to list on its platform will be from the PowerShares division of Invesco Canada. The PowerShares Dorsey Wright Associates (PDWA) Global Momentum Index ETF is due to begin trading in early March subject to the approval of regulatory authorities. In a bid to attract corporate clients Aequitas NEO offers competitive listing fees that currently undercut those offered by the Toronto Stock Exchange. The firm also touts a variety of benefits including a robust system ensuring reliable liquidity and free real-time market data to enhance visibility.

Broadridge Financial Solutions, a London-based provider of financial market analysis, has released its quarterly ‘fund distribution intelligence’ report, which found that the exchange traded fund industry reached a peak of $2.2tn last year. The report looks at the flows and asset performance of long-term mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. The funds make up more than $9tn of assets and are from a variety of providers. The research showed that the mutual fund industry experienced a decrease of $161bn in its global asset base during 2015 to $7.3tn, while assets in ETFs increased.

Stoxx, a leading European index provider, has announced the launch the Stoxx Low Carbon Indices, a suite of indices enabling market participants to limit the exposure of their portfolios to carbon risk while participating in the low-carbon economic growth. Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, Stoxx, commented: “Our Stoxx Low Carbon index family enables investors to easily incorporate sustainability factors into their portfolio which focus on carbon emissions. The Stoxx Global Climate Change Leaders Index in particular provides an innovative solution to track companies that are leaders in mitigating climate change and are publicly committed to reducing carbon emissions.”

Deutsche Asset Management (Deutsche AM) has announced that its db x-trackers exchange-traded fund platform captured $27.8bn in net inflows during 2015, making it the third highest recipient of net inflows of any ETF provider globally and the fifth largest by assets under management. Simon Klein, Head of Distribution for Passive Investments, EMEA & Asia, at Deutsche AM, said: “Transitioning into one of the leading providers of physical replication ETFs, significant expansion of our range of fixed income ETFs as well as an enlarged distribution team have all been cornerstones of our success. We believe we are well-positioned to move to be among the top four largest ETF providers in the world.”

European index provider STOXX has rolled out the iSTOXX MUTB Global Quality Indices, a suite of smart beta benchmarks capturing the performance of companies that meet minimum standards related to profitability, leverage and cash flow. Firms are selected with high quality characteristics enabling the index to try and beat similar broad market returns by avoiding riskier companies within its constitution. The indices, created in partnership with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp, have been licensed to the Tokyo-based financial institution for product development. STOXX indices are designed to form the basis for investable products such as exchange-traded funds.

UBS Asset Management, Europe’s fourth largest provider of exchange-traded funds, has listed 52 funds on Euronext Amsterdam. The mass listing substantially increases the range of ETFs available to Dutch investors and means that UBS now accounts for a quarter of all ETFs listed on the exchange. Marcel Danen, Head of UBS ETFs Netherlands, commented: “The listing of this large amount of ETFs shows our commitment to the Dutch market. I am very pleased that we can now make our extensive experience and capabilities directly available to the Dutch investment community.”

Van Eck Global, the asset manager behind the Market Vectors range of exchange-traded funds, has launched a new fund investing in firms engaged in the manufacture of generic drugs. The Market Vectors Generic Drugs ETF (Nasdaq: GNRX) offers global exposure to a realm of the health care sector that may exhibit lower volatility than traditional pharmaceuticals exposure. The fund’s risk profile benefits from somewhat lower research and development costs by its constituents as well as the stability of operating in markets where levels of demand for the seller’s products have been better established.