The rise of smart beta products in the exchange-traded funds industry is a credit positive for asset managers with smart-beta focused ETF businesses, according to new report from Moody’s, a credit ratings agency. “The expansion of smart beta will benefit asset managers with businesses centred around smart beta the most,” says Stephen Tu, Vice President, Moody’s. “Invesco’s Powershares franchise, which offers smart beta ETFs, will benefit, as will BlackRock. Guggenheim may also benefit given the majority of its ETFs are based on non-traditional indexing.”

Invesco PowerShares, a leading global provider of exchange-traded funds, has announced the launch of the PowerShares Variable Rate Preferred Portfolio ETF (VRP). The NYSE Arca-listed ETF offers income-seeking investors exposure to a portfolio of variable-rate preferred securities. Dan Draper, Invesco PowerShares Managing Director of Global ETFs, said: “We see strong demand for variable-rate preferred securities that offer the potential for high income and less interest rate risk than fixed rate preferred securities in this current market rate environment.”

The PowerShares International BuyBack Achievers Portfolio (IPKW) has gone live on Nasdaq. This latest exchange-traded fund (ETF) from Invesco PowerShares provides investors with efficient access to a portfolio of international companies classified as “BuyBack Achievers”. BuyBack Achievers are companies that have effected a net reduction of 5% or more of their outstanding shares in their most recent fiscal year, and have met additional criteria in accordance with the guidelines and mandated procedures of the Nasdaq OMX Group, the underlying index provider.

Invesco PowerShares, a leading global provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), is to launch an ETF providing exposure to a portfolio of international companies with a history of stock buybacks. The PowerShares International BuyBack Achievers Portfolio (IPKW) will be listed on the Nasdaq stock market and is scheduled to make its debut on February 27, 2014. It will be linked to the Nasdaq International BuyBack Achievers Index.

S&P Dow Jones, a leading global provider of indices, has combined the two well-known investment themes of low volatility and income to create the S&P Europe 350 Low Volatility High Dividend Index. The newly launched index, which is designed to serve either as a performance benchmark or as a underlying reference for index-linked products such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs), measures the performance of 50 high yielding, lower volatility companies within the S&P Europe 350.

Schwab has become the first major firm to launch a full-service 401(k) program based on low-cost exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Steve Anderson, head of Schwab Retirement Plan Services, estimates a 401(k) plan using index ETFs can reduce investment expenses by more than 90 percent compared to a typical 401(k) plan that primarily uses actively managed mutual funds, and by more than 30 percent compared to a 401(k) plan that uses index mutual funds.

One in four institutional investors report using smart beta ETFs, and adoption among non-users is likely to accelerate in the near future, according to a new study conducted by Cogent Research, a division of Market Strategies International. The results reveal that nearly half (46%) of institutional decision-makers not currently using smart beta ETFs indicate they are likely to start using the products over the next three years, particularly institutional investors with assets in excess of $500 million.

Invesco PowerShares, a leading global sponsor of exchange-traded funds, and NYSE Euronext, an exchange operator and index provider, have announced the launch of the PowerShares NYSE Century Portfolio ETF (NYCC). The ETF, which has been listed on the NYSE Arca, is the first to be based on the NYSE Century Index, an index composed of American companies that have been incorporated in the US for at least 100 years, maintain a current US listing and have a market capitalization of at least $1 billion.

Global ETF and ETP industry assets reached a new record high of $2.4 trillion at year-end 2013, according to preliminary findings from ETFGI, a London-based consultancy. The global ETF/ETP industry had 5,090 ETFs/ETPs, with 10,172 listings, from 218 providers on 60 exchanges at the end of 2013. Global assets increased by 23% over the year, based on positive market performance and net inflows of $242.8 billion, but did not surpass the $265.0 billion in net inflows in 2012.

The PowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio (BKLN), a senior leveraged loan exchange-traded fund (ETF) from Invesco PowerShares, has received the prestigious William F. Sharpe Award for ETF Product of the Year. Listed on March 3, 2011, the fund represents the first and largest floating-rate senior loan ETF available to US investors having recently surpassed $6.2 billion in assets under management. The fund is based on the S&P/LSTA US Leveraged Loan 100 Index, an index designed to track the market-weighted performance of the largest institutional leveraged loans.