BNP Paribas has launched two new ETFs providing exposure to European and Japanese equities with strong environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) characteristics. The new funds, which select constituents based on data from MSCI ESG Research are available to trade on Xetra and Börse Frankfurt.

The Japanese market has come a long way since the so-called ‘lost decade,’ a period of severe economic stagnation for the country, following the Nikkei 225 index’s plunge from its all-time high of 38,957 in the winter of 1989. Investors seeking to benefit from the country’s ongoing turnaround have a multitude of interesting ETFs to choose from.

Assets invested in ETFs and ETPs listed in Japan reached a record high of $295 billion at the end of January 2018, surpassing the previous record of $276bn set at the end of 2017, according to ETF industry consultants ETFGI.

ETF and ETP provider WisdomTree has announced its intention to close and liquidate nine of its US-listed ETFs.

Global ETPs raked in $100.6 billion in net inflows during January, eclipsing the previous monthly inflow record of $68.7bn set in September 2008, while EMEA-listed ETPs gathered $14.1bn in January, equalling the largest monthly inflow of all time in January 2015, according to BlackRock’s latest ETP Landscape report. Patrick Mattar, iShares EMEA capital markets team at BlackRock, looks at the key themes behind the month’s record flows.

The total market cap of Japanese listed ETFs and ETPs grew by $102.5 billion to a record high of $275.8bn in 2017, representing a 59% increase for the year, reports ETF industry consultants ETFGI.

UBS Global Asset Management has cross-listed four currency-hedged ESG-themed ETFs on Deutsche Börse. The ETFs, which include three equity ETFs and one corporate bond ETF, are all based on indices which incorporate an evaluation of environmental, social and governance performance by MSCI. They also include in-built euro-currency hedges designed to mitigate the effect of adverse currency movements.

Naoki Kamiyama, Chief Strategist at Nikko Asset Management, discusses some of the key forces shaping the outlook for the Japanese economy and stock market in 2018, including government policy, earnings growth, wage growth, and capital expenditure.

China Post Global has cross-listed the Market Access iStoxx MUTB Japan Quality 150 Index UCITS ETF (MAJQ LN) on the London Stock Exchange. The ETF is the first product China Post Global has listed on the LSE since it acquired the Market Access ETFs from RBS in 2016.

ERI Scientific Beta, an affiliate of the EDHEC-Risk Institute, and Fundlogic, the ETF platform of investment bank Morgan Stanley, have partnered to launch five smart beta ETFs on the London Stock Exchange. The ETFs provide factor-based equity exposure to the US, Japan, developed Asia-Pacific ex-Japan, developed Europe, and emerging markets.