ProShares has launched the first crude oil ETF to deliver 1099 tax forms to the investor instead of the less desirable K-1 tax form. The ProShares K-1 Free Crude Oil Strategy ETF (Bats: OILK) is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, unlike other crude oil ETFs which are commodities partnerships. The fund uses active management to enhance returns through an optimised futures rolling strategy.

A note from S&P Dow Jones Indices suggests that the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) could be poised to increase sharply from this week, citing seasonal trends as well as expectations derived from the VIX futures curve. For investors looking to protect their portfolios from rising volatility, VIX-linked exchange-traded products, such as the Boost S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures 2.25x Leverage Daily ETP (VIXL), could provide an effective hedge. Similarly, for traders with shorter time horizons the current calm could present an opportunity to take out speculative long positions in such products, which would profit from an increase in volatility.

Japanese equity exchange-traded funds have experienced significant declines recently as traders reacted to the Bank of Japan’s decision not to add further monetary stimulus and the upcoming Brexit vote weighed heavily on risk sentiment. The iShares MSCI Japan USD Hedged UCITS ETF (LSE: IJPD) and the SPDR MSCI Japan EUR Hedged UCITS ETF (LSE: JPEH), two of the largest funds to cover the space, are both down 9.3% between 31 May and 16 June 2016.

Leading global index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices has celebrated the 120th anniversary of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), a widely followed indicator for US stock market performance. The index, designed to reflect the health of the broad US economy, is a price-weighted average of 30 stocks traded on the New York and NASDAQ exchanges. It also serves as the benchmark for several exchange-traded funds from providers such as State Street Global Advisors, iShares and ProShares.

Exchange traded fund provider ProShares has launched the ProShares Managed Futures Strategy ETF (BATS: FUT) to replace the ProShares Managed Futures Strategy (FUTS) in a bid to generate greater investor appeal by providing active management and a more efficient tax-structure. Managed futures strategies attempt to identify price trends in the futures markets, and can establish either long or short positions across asset classes such as commodities, currencies and fixed income to capture enhanced returns. FUT uses a risk-weighting methodology, applied at each monthly rebalancing period, which involves optimising the portfolio to ensure each commodity, currency, and fixed income position contributes an equal amount of estimated risk.

BATS Global Markets, an electronic stock exchange group, welcomed a further 11 exchange-traded funds to its US ETF trading venue, BATS ETF Marketplace, in January. The figure represents 85% of all US ETF listings that occurred during the month. BATS was the number one operator for US ETF trading for every month of 2015, a record it has continued into 2016 by executing 26.9% of all US ETF trading in January. The group currently has 67 ETFs, from eight providers, listed on its US exchanges and 11 ETFs, from three issuers, listed in Europe.

US-based exchange traded fund provider ProShares has launched the ProShares MSCI Emerging Markets Dividend Growers ETF (BATS: EMDV) further expanding its suite of funds targeting companies with long-term records of consistent dividend increases. The strategy targets sustained dividend growth, which enhances income potential but also indicates financial strength meaning it can avoid lower quality firms. As a long-term strategy there is academic support for dividend investing. According to independent research firm Ned Davis Research, both US and international companies that grew their dividends year-on-year outperformed companies that did not between 1996 and 2015.

iShares, the exchange-traded fund division of the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock, has become the second ETF issuer since November to announce the de-listing of a fund from NYSE Arca and transfer to the BATS ETF Marketplace. The iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF (EZU) will be re-listed with BATS Global Markets, the Kansas-headquartered exchange, on or around 2 February 2016. The move comes swiftly after ProShares, a provider of specialist ETFs, withdrew four funds during December 2015 from the New York exchange in favour of the incentives offered through the BATS trading model.

ProShares, a US-based provider of exchange-traded funds, has announced that the ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL) has surpassed $1bn in assets under management. The milestone was reached just over two years since the fund’s inception in October 2013. The fund tracks the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index, an equal-weighted index of companies within the S&P 500 that have increased their dividends every year for at least 25 consecutive years. “Investors are attracted to NOBL because the Dividend Aristocrats are quality companies with long-term return potential,” said Michael L. Sapir, co-founder and CEO of ProShares. “Indeed, since its inception, NOBL’s index has outperformed the S&P 500 with lower volatility.”

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed a new rule that would limit the use of derivatives by registered investment companies, including exchange-traded funds. If it were to come into force, the proposed rule could have a significant impact on US-listed leveraged long and short ETFs, potentially forcing providers such as Direxion and ProShares to change the legal structure or leverage factor of affected products, or even close them down.