As ETF assets tracking environmental, social and governance (ESG) exposures continue to grow, S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI), one of the world’s leading index providers, has announced the launch of three new climate change indices. “Many investors are trying to facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy by financing projects in the renewable energy sector, avoiding high-carbon producing companies or minimising their exposure to fossil fuel companies. The three new S&P DJI indices are designed to provide alternative performance narratives to standard benchmarks, being comprised of those companies meeting the strict fossil fuel and carbon efficient standards set within each index series,” said Julia Kochetygova, Head of Sustainability Indices at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Direxion Investments, a US-based provider of short and leveraged exchange-traded funds, has launched two pairs of ETFs which seek to deliver 2x long and 2x inverse exposure to the cyber security and pharmaceutical industries. “Traders and investors continue to express keen interest in the cyber security and pharmaceutical sectors,” said Sylvia Jablonski, Managing Director at Direxion. “Our new leveraged ETFs enable traders to benefit from exposure to these industries, regardless of market conditions and sector performance, in a flexible way.”

Oppenheimer Funds, the global asset manager, has made a move into the growing smart beta space with the announcement of an agreement to acquire VTL Associates, known for its RevenueShares range of exchange-traded funds. “Investors are looking to active managers for innovative solutions to add to their overall investment strategy, including products that are designed to deliver better-than-market returns with full transparency of their investment process,” said Art Steinmetz, Chairman, President and CEO of Oppenheimer Funds.

State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) has announced the launch of two currency-hedged ETFs providing exposure to international income-producing assets: the SPDR MSCI International Real Estate Currency Hedged ETF (HREX) and the SPDR S&P International Dividend Currency Hedged ETF (HDWX). “Recent flow trends have highlighted continued investor interest in currency-hedged ETFs to help manage currency volatility,” said James Ross, executive vice president and global head of SPDR ETFs at SSGA. “The search for yield continues to be a pressing need for investors and the addition of HREX and HDWX provides our clients with the ability to better manage currency risk when seeking attractive income-producing opportunities outside of the US.”

Amundi, a leading European provider of exchange-traded funds, has listed two more ETFs on Deutsche Börse’s XTF segment. The ETFs track the performance of global low-carbon companies and currency-hedged exposure to Japanese companies exhibiting good corporate governance characteristics. The Amundi ETF MSCI World Low Carbon UCITS ETF is comprised of large and mid-cap corporations who emit low levels of carbon in their business activities. The Amundi ETF JPX-Nikkei 400 UCITS ETF – Daily Hedged EUR enables investors to participate in the performance of the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 while mitigating the risk that the Japanese yen will depreciate against the euro.

ETF.com, an exchange-traded fund news source, has released the results of their annual European survey highlighting investor perceptions of the ETF industry and their thoughts on where the market is heading. The survey points to strong interest and continued demand for ETF products, but also shows that a lack of understanding and structural barriers are impeding European investors from embracing ETFs in the same way US investors have.

ETF Securities, a London-headquartered exchange-traded fund provider, and Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM), a leading smart beta specialist, have begun to roll out their co-branded smart beta fixed income ETF range on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Bernhard Wenger, Co-Head of European Distribution, ETF Securities, commented: “We’re very pleased to be listing these ETFs on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Switzerland is an important growth market for us and we are fully committed to making our products accessible to all investor types.”

Lyxor Asset Management, a Paris-based exchange-traded fund provider and subsidiary of Societe Generale, has announced the launch of pound sterling-hedged versions of two existing ETFs. Aimed primarily at UK-based investors, the new share classes offer exposure to their respective equity indices – the SG Global Quality Income Index and Euro Stoxx Index – whilst mitigating the impact of adverse currency movements against the pound.

Against the backdrop of a global equity market sell-off, equity exchange-traded funds and products still managed to see positive net asset flows, with $2.4bn of new money flowing in during August, according to data from ETFGI. Short and leveraged ETPs also had a stellar month, with $7.5bn of net inflows. Globally, ETFs and ETPs gathered $20.8bn during August, marking their nineteenth consecutive month of positive net inflows, and year-to-date net inflows remain on pace to beat the record levels set in 2014. So far this year $219.7bn in net new assets have made their way into this fast-growing product segment, a 16% increase over the first eight months of 2014.

Despite the risk-off nature of markets in August, European listed exchange-traded funds and exchange traded products gathered $11.5 billion in net new assets during the month, with positive flows seen across fixed income, equity and commodity products. The figures, supplied by ETF industry consultants ETFGI, highlight the structural shift to ETFs and ETPs which continues in the face of volatile markets.