The FTSE 100 is officially in correction territory, having fallen more than 10% since its all-time high reached in April, bringing ETFs such as the £3.5 billion London-listed iShares Core FTSE 100 UCITS ETF (ISF) down with it. Oil and mining stocks have been the dominant detractor as commodity prices have come under pressure. This was epitomised by Glencore’s poor set of results this Wednesday with the company announcing a 29% decline in first-half earnings causing shares in the company to drop over 8%. Of course, the poor performance of oil and mining has been a boon for inverse ETFs, such as the Boost FTSE 100 3x Short Daily ETP (3UKS) which is up 26% since the April high.

Market Vectors, the exchange-traded fund division of investment manager Van Eck Global, has announced the launch of the Market Vectors Oil Refiners ETF (CRAK), an NYSE Arca-listed fund providing pure-play exposure to oil refinery companies. The ETF is linked to the Market Vectors Global Oil Refiners Index, which measures the performance of the largest and most liquid companies in the global oil refining segment. “Oil refiners have tended to react differently to the price of oil compared to other energy sector companies. Historically, the return profile is differentiated from other segments of the sector, a trend that has persisted year-to-date,” said Brandon Rakszawski, product manager at Van Eck Global.

BlackRock, the asset manager behind the iShares range of exchange-traded funds, recently unveiled a new ETF for US dollar-based investors looking for international high-yield corporate bond exposure without the currency risk associated with investing overseas. Matthew Tucker, Head of iShares Fixed Income Investment Strategy at BlackRock, said: “We have seen significant US dollar strength driven by global central bank policy divergence, and this could continue to impact US dollar returns on international investments. Given this backdrop, we are pleased to now be able to provide US investors with the flexibility to hedge some or all of the currency exposure of an international high-yield bond investment with our iShares fixed income ETF suite.”

Canadian ETF provider, Horizons ETFs, has launched the Horizons Managed Multi-Asset Momentum ETF (HMA), an actively managed ETF which targets multiple global asset classes based on their momentum characteristics. According to Howard Atkinson, President of Horizons ETFs: “HMA seeks to give Canadian investors optimal risk-adjusted exposure, by not only capturing strong pricing uptrends, but also having a strong focus on risk management, such as moving to cash if there are no observable investment opportunities.”

Global leaders in the fixed income exchange-traded funds market have collaborated to achieve a standardised methodology to improve valuation comparisons of fixed income ETFs as well as align global calculation approaches for key metrics such as yields, spreads and duration. The end goal is to enhance investor confidence in fixed income ETFs by improving intra-day analysis of different ETFs and other fixed income instruments across multiple trading platforms. The team behind the initiative includes BlackRock, Bloomberg, State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), Tradeweb and a number of leading broker-dealers.

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) listed in Europe have gathered 13% more assets year-to-date than in any prior year, according to ETF industry consultants ETFGI. A record $48.4bn in net new assets were gathered by ETFs in Europe in the first seven months of 2015, well ahead of the prior record of $42.9bn set in 2014. “Although investors faced uncertainty in China and Greece during July they continued to invest significant net new assets in equity ETFs”, said Deborah Fuhr, managing partner of ETFGI.

FTSE Russell, a leading global index provider, has expanded the FTSE Global Factor Index Series to include two additional factors: Momentum and Dividend Yield. The factors are available in developed market and emerging market versions. Peter Gunthorp, Managing Director of Research & Analytics at FTSE Russell, commented: “Asset owners and their consultants are increasingly evaluating and adopting more sophisticated index strategies. As alternatively weighted and factor indices grow in popularity, we will continue to expand our offering to meet this growing demand.”

Van Eck Global, the asset manager behind the Market Vectors brand of ETFs, has entered into an agreement with Yorkville ETF Advisers to reorganise two Yorkville master limited partnership (MLP) ETFs under the Market Vectors umbrella. Jan van Eck, CEO of Van Eck Global, said: “MLPs are an important segment of the energy market. The attractive yield characteristics of MLPs make these ETFs a natural extension of our focus on income-oriented investing and we’re excited to make this asset class available to investors.”

Newfleet Asset Management, a US-based investment advisor and affiliate of Virtus Investment Partners, has entered the exchange-traded fund space with the launch of an actively managed multi-sector bond ETF. Listed on the NYSE Arca, the Virtus Newfleet Multi-Sector Unconstrained Bond ETF (NFLT) aims to deliver a high level of current income while also pursuing capital appreciation.

US stocks are overvalued by most metrics, according to smart beta specialists Research Affiliates. Whilst this may come as worrying news for investors in US equity ETFs such as the $177 billion SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) or the $12.6 billion iShares Russell 1000 ETF (IWB), this does not mean that they might not appreciate further. While the valuation metrics are useful in estimating the long-term return of the market, Research Affiliates warns that they can’t tell us with any accuracy when market prices will be heading up or down: “Simply knowing a market is overvalued tells us nothing about when it is expected to revert to reality.”