Proponents of thematic investing have reason to cheer with the arrival of a new ETF issuer, Rize ETF, dedicated to thematic portfolios. The London-based firm is founded by four alumni of ETF Securities and LGIM and aims to carve out a niche as a specialist provider of thematic ETFs. It has debuted with a pair of equity ETFs focused on cybersecurity and data privacy, and medical cannabis and life sciences.

The Royal Mint has become the first government-owned mint in Europe to issue an exchange-traded product with the launch of the Royal Mint Physical Gold Securities ETC on the London Stock Exchange. The ETC provides exposure to allocated physical gold bars sourced in line with LBMA’s Responsible Sourcing Programme and stored in the Royal Mint’s vault in Wales. It is available to trade in USD (RMAU LN) and GBP (RMAP LN), and comes with a total expense ratio of 0.22%.

Purpose Investments is set to launch its first ETF in Europe, the Medical Cannabis and Wellness UCITS ETF (CBSX GR) on Xetra. The fund, which is being brought to market in collaboration with white-label ETF provider HANetf, will be the first UCITS ETF to deliver targeted exposure to the rapidly expanding medical cannabis industry. Som Seif, CEO of Purpose Investments, said, “We believe that the cannabis sector is still in the infancy stages of a multi-year growth phase and that there is ample opportunity for innovation and new discoveries.”

By Anthony Ginsberg, Managing Director, GINS Global. When it comes to industrial megatrends that are going to define our lives in the next 20 years, the growth in reliance on the Cloud, and the companies that support it, has to be one of the biggest. While few ETFs currently track Cloud-specific indexes, the underlying value of those companies that are at the forefront of this revolution continues.

BMO Global Asset Management is to withdraw from the European ETF market. In a letter to shareholders in its ETFs, the asset manager announced its intention to close all of its London-listed ETFs and cease managing ETFs domiciled in Europe. It said the decision was based on a variety of factors, including the current level of assets under management and projected asset growth in the current market environment. The ETF closures raise some important questions with respect to fund due diligence and issuer viability.

European white-label ETF platform HANetf has expanded its sales footprint by registering its five ETFs for distribution in Finland and the Netherlands. Hector McNeil, CEO and co-Founder of HANetf, commented, “We are continuing to register the ETFs on our white-label platform for distribution in key European markets based on increasing client demand.”

Invesco has launched a new European-domiciled ETF providing exposure to the equity market of Kuwait. The Invesco MSCI Kuwait UCITS ETF (MKUW LN) has listed on London Stock Exchange in US dollars and comes seeded with $50 million in assets under management. The fund offers investors a liquid and convenient vehicle to gain access to Kuwaiti equities ahead of the country’s graduation to emerging market status by index provider MSCI.

The KMEFIC FTSE Kuwait Equity UCITS ETF (KUW8 LN), Europe’s first ETF to provide pure-play exposure to Kuwait, is expected to benefit from S&P Dow Jones Indices’ upgrade of the country to emerging market status which took effect on 23 September 2019. HANetf, the issuer behind the fund, anticipates the reclassification of Kuwait and its inclusion in S&P DJI’s Global & Emerging Benchmark indices to generate roughly $2 billion of passive and active inflows, boosting investor appetite in the Gulf state.

The Royal Mint is set to become the first sovereign mint in Europe to launch a physically backed gold ETC. The ETC is being brought to market in collaboration with HANetf, an independent white-label ETF issuer, and is expected to debut in early 2020. Anne Jessopp, CEO of The Royal Mint, commented, “This is a milestone moment for The Royal Mint as we prepare to launch our first financially listed product and reinvent what it means to be a Mint in the modern age.”

WisdomTree has announced the launch of the WisdomTree Cloud Computing UCITS ETF, providing exposure to fast-growing cloud computing companies. The fund has listed on London Stock Exchange and comes with an expense ratio of 0.40%. It is linked to the BVP Nasdaq Emerging Cloud Index, a collaboration between exchange operator Nasdaq and technology venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners. Jeremy Schwartz, Global Head of Research at WisdomTree, commented, “The WisdomTree Cloud Computing UCITS ETF targets cloud computing businesses, which we believe are best positioned for high levels of recurring revenue growth and have the potential to scale at a faster rate than traditional tech companies.”