Analysts have warned that equity investors should brace for uncertainty if Donald Trump succeeds in his bid for the White House. Cowen Washington research strategist Chris Krueger told CNBC the morning after the second US Presidential debate. “The market doesn’t like uncertainty. With Trump that is what you get almost by definition.” Trump could “unlock” the American tax code with a Republican-led House and Senate behind him and impose a 45% tariff of Chinese imports from his first day in the White House. Trump has also proposed a 35% tariff on imports from Mexico.

Soft commodity exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded commodities have received a boost in recent months thanks to sharp price increases in the futures contracts for sugar and coffee. Droughts, heavy rain and frost in Brazil have driven up the prices of both food stuffs by more than 20% in the past few months, according to a note from Rabobank. The $47m ETFS Coffee ETC (LSE: COFF), is up more than 13% year to date and just over 2% in the last three months, while the $26m ETFS Sugar ETC (LSE: SUGA) is up 44.6% and just over 10% over the same periods.

The ‘fallen angels’ phenomenon can offer the opportunity to enhance the returns on a multi-asset portfolio and the potential to improve diversification, according to a research paper from Cass Business School. The paper, “Fallen Angels: The investment opportunity”, written by Professors Andrew Clare (pictured), Stephen Thomas and Dr Nick Motson, and supported by ETF issuer Invesco PowerShares, is believed to be the first piece of academic analysis focusing specifically on the impact on bond prices of a downgrade from investment grade status to high yield status.

Morningstar has released their third annual report into trends within the global strategic beta ETP landscape. The paper found that the strategies have grown in popularity on a global, regional and country basis, both in terms of number of ETPs available as well as assets dedicated to the space. As of 30 June 2016, the global strategic beta ETP landscape encompassed 1,123 ETPs with $550.5bn in assets under management.

First Trust has launched seven new ETFs tracking Nasdaq US Smart Sector Indices – alternatively-weighted sector-specific exposures within the US economy. The smart beta funds provide access to the banking, food & beverage, oil & gas, pharmaceuticals, retail, semiconductor, and transportation segments of the US economy. Ryan Issakainen, Senior Vice President, ETF Strategist at First Trust, commented: “These ETFs provide investment advisors with a new set of tools for investing in important industries, while biasing portfolio exposure toward lower valuations, stronger momentum, and less volatility.”

Canadian ETF provider First Asset has introduced the First Asset Canadian Buyback Index ETF (FBE) and the First Asset US Buyback Index ETF (FBU), providing access to portfolios of Canadian and US equities with active share repurchase programs. Companies which engage in share buybacks may display several beneficial characteristics compared to other firms such as stronger cash flows, lower share price volatility and greater tax efficiency.

Invesco PowerShares has unveiled its first fixed income product in the European market with the launch of the PowerShares US High Yield Fallen Angels UCITS ETF (LSE: HYFA). The ETF is linked to an innovative time-weighted index from Citi and provides exposure to USD-denominated “Fallen Angel” bonds of North American issuers. It is based on the premise that the overly negative sentiment surrounding a downgrade to junk status causes fallen angels to be regularly oversold. According to Bryon Lake, Head of Invesco PowerShares EMEA, “the [time-weighted] index emphasises the bonds that were most recently downgraded” which “could enhance the return of the ETF by more acutely capturing the ‘fallen angel’ phenomenon.”

London-based ETF Securities will close its ETFS S-Network Global Agri Business GO UCITS ETF at the end of August, but agriculture-focused exchange-traded funds remain a compelling proposition as the global food supply/demand imbalance continues. The fund launched in 2008 but insufficient investor demand – current AUM is £12.4m – has led ETF Securities to decide its relatively small size did not make it worth paying the associated operating costs. Shareholders who have not sold their holding before 31 August will have their shares automatically redeemed for cash.

Maryland-based asset manager Calvert Investments has launched an index tracking globally-listed firms with low carbon emissions, those that are actively reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, or those expanding their use of renewable energy sources. The Calvert Energy Research Index, the seventh addition to the firm’s suite of responsible indices and its second research index, has been designed to form the basis for future passive investment products such as exchange-traded funds.

Australian exchange-traded fund provider BetaShares has launched two currency-hedged ETFs aimed at providing investors with exposure to the global healthcare and agriculture industries – the BetaShares Global Healthcare ETF – Currency Hedged (ASX: DRUG) and the BetaShares Global Agriculture Companies ETF – Currency Hedged (ASX: FOOD). Alex Vynokur, managing director of BetaShares, commented: “…the BetaShares Global Sector ETF family can enable Australian investors to further evolve their existing portfolios by obtaining access to globally significant industry sectors in a convenient and cost effective way.”