Deka Investments, a German provider of exchange-traded funds, has launched a new ETF, the Deka Eurozone Rendite Plus 1-10 Bond Index (ELFD GY), offering exposure to the highest yielding eurozone government bonds that possess investment grade status. The fund invests in highly liquid “plain vanilla” government bonds, denominated in euros, and issued by eurozone countries with an outstanding volume of at least €2bn. Constituent countries are required to be classified with ‘investment grade’ status, possessing a minimum rating of BBB- or its equivalent.

Deka Investment, a German provider of exchange-traded funds, has launched the Deka Euro Oekom Sustainability UCITS ETF, a Deutsche Börse-listed ETF providing exposure to a portfolio of large-cap Eurozone equities that meet high sustainability standards. The ETF is the latest in a growing band of Socially Responsibility Investing (SRI) and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) conscious investment products. Initiatives like the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment have long promoted the benefits of investing in a sustainable and ethical fashion. Through this approach the investor explicitly supports those companies that are making the effort to operate in a fashion that benefits both society and the environment.

Solactive, a Germany-based index provider, has launched the Solactive Swiss Equal-Weight Net Total Return Index, an index tracking the performance of an equally weighted allocation of Swiss large-cap stocks. The index, which has been licensed to UBS, has been constructed so as to be suitable to underlie index-linked investment products such as exchange-traded funds and structured products. Steffen Scheuble, CEO of Solactive, commented: “We are pleased to fill in another gap in the market for UBS, with the launch of this equal-weight index following the Swiss market via its top 20 blue chips, which offers a new approach to a well-known market.”

Elston Consulting, a London-based investment research and advisory firm, has announced the launch of the Elston Strategic Beta Indices. The indices, which are aimed at institutional investors, offer outcome-oriented asset allocation strategies that are diversified across multiple global asset classes. The investment process provides a quantitative, methodical and objective approach to creating dynamic diversified growth strategies that isolate and capture shifting risk premia across asset classes. The strategies are delivered using ETFs. Maria Zahn, Head of Institutional Clients at Elston Consulting, commented: “While there is growing popularity for low-cost ETFs, we think the real value is from combining them intelligently to deliver on client outcomes.”

ETF Securities, a London-headquartered provider of exchange-traded funds, has unveiled an ETF enabling investors to capitalise on the US energy boom. Listed on the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse (Xetra), the ETFS US Energy Infrastructure MLP GO UCITS ETF (MLPX) invests solely in master limited partnerships (MLPs) that are defined as infrastructure MLPs. It is linked to the newly launched Solactive US Energy Infrastructure MLP Index TR, an index from index boutique Solactive which tracks the performance of 25 high-yielding infrastructure MLPs with market capitalisations over $500 million.

Solactive, a Frankfurt-based provider of financial market indices, has introduced the Solactive US Energy Infrastructure MLP Index, an index tracking the performance of US energy infrastructure master limited partnerships (MLPs). The index has been licensed to ETF Securities for the launch of an exchange-traded fund listed on the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse. Henning Kahre, Head of the Equity Team, Solactive, said: “There has clearly been a rising interest for MLPs over the past few years and we are enthusiast to support ETF Securities in providing access to this segment of the market to their European clients.”

FinEx, a London-headquartered exchange-traded fund issuer with significant operations in Russia, has unveiled the FinEx Cash Equivalents UCITS ETF (FXMM), the first US money market ETF on the Moscow Exchange. The fund, which has also been listed on the Irish Stock Exchange, is linked to the Solactive 1-3 Month US T-Bill Index, a newly launched index developed and calculated by Solactive tracking the performance of the US Treasury bills market.

Horizons ETFs has introduced Canada’s first swap-based bond index ETF: the Horizons CDN Select Universe Bond ETF (HBB). Listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the fund is linked to the newly launched Solactive Canadian Select Universe Bond Index. Howard Atkinson, President of Horizons ETFs, said: “HBB is an example of how indexing in the fixed income space can be made better by both improving the underlying index and utilizing a TRS structure to reduce the potential for tracking error and improve tax efficiency.”

Solactive, a Frankfurt-based provider of financial market indices, has announced the launch of the Solactive European Buyback Index, an index tracking the share prices of companies which have recently announced stock buybacks. The index has been designed to act as an underlying for index-linked investment products such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Global X Funds, a New York-based provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with more than $3 billion in managed assets, has unveiled two new “Guru”-themed ETFs, which seek to participate in the ideas of some of the world’s most sophisticated investors. Listed on the NYSE Arca, the Global X Guru Small Cap Index ETF (GURX) and Global X Guru International Index ETF (GURI) exploit 13F filings to tap into the highest conviction ideas of a select group of hedge funds and other institutional investors.