The VanEck Merk Gold Trust (NYSE Arca: OUNZ) has reduced the fees investors pay to take delivery of their gold. The fund gives investors access to buy and hold gold through an ETF with the option to take delivery of the gold in exchange for the fund’s shares. Axel Merk, president of Merk Investments, the sponsor of OUNZ, commented: “We are reaffirming our commitment to provide investors with easy and cost-effective access to their gold,”

After registering dynamic growth in the first half of the year, demand for Europe-listed ETFs slowed considerably in August, according to Morningstar’s monthly ETF asset flows analysis.

ETFs tracking biotechnology and healthcare technology equities have posted impressive recent performance: since 21 August 2017, the Source NASDAQ Biotech UCITS ETF (LON: SBIO) is up 10.2% and the iShares Healthcare Innovation UCITS ETF (LON: HEAL) has returned 5.6%. In comparison, the S&P 500 rose just 2.0% over the same period.

First Trust gathered the largest net inflows into actively managed ETFs/ETPs during July with $504 million net new assets created, representing over a quarter of the $1.9 billion net inflows gathered globally over this period. According to research from ETF industry consultant ETFGI, other firms attracting significant net inflows during the month included Lyxor with $271m and Source with $153m.

Invesco has announced it has completed its acquisition of European ETF provider Source. The transaction sees Invesco add Source’s $26 billion in assets under management to Invesco’s own existing global ETF AUM of approximately $120bn. Martin L. Flanagan, president and CEO of Invesco, commented: “The addition of Source’s specialist expertise and product innovation to Invesco’s strong and diversified range of investment capabilities will further enhance our ability to meet the investment needs and outcomes our clients seek.”

Europe-listed ETFs saw net inflows of €7.8 billion in July 2017, bringing the total for 2017 to €65bn, according to data from Morningstar. While flows into Europe-listed equity ETFs posted a solid reading of €4.9bn, fixed income ETFs saw tepid demand during the month, recording flows of just €1.6bn, the second lowest monthly flows this year.

Seven Investment Management (7IM) has reported that its gold exposure is currently at its highest ever level due to the firm’s “risk off” positioning as a result of perceived elevated risks in the stock market. 7IM’s gold holdings (15.4 tonnes) is now greater than a number of countries including Ireland, United Arab Emirates and the Czech Republic. The discretionary fund manager uses physically backed exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) from Source and iShares to obtain gold exposure in its range of funds and managed portfolios.

European ETF provider Source has introduced a pound sterling-denominated share class for the Source MSCI Europe ex-UK UCITS ETF (LON: MXUK). Chris Mellor, equity product specialist at Source, commented: “Some investors may want to separate their exposures to Europe and the UK, especially with Brexit causing uncertainty around the outlook for the UK. This ETF effectively puts investors in control of the allocation.”

By Oliver Smith, portfolio manager at IG.

The US market has been a huge growth area for ETFs and index funds, with falling fees enabling investors to get exposure at a very low cost. More recently a number of new products targeting different parts of the market have been launched in the UK. In this piece we take a look at six of the best US ETFs to consider for your portfolio.

Invesco, the asset manager behind the PowerShares range of ETFs, is rumoured to be in discussions to acquire part of the investment management business of Guggenheim Investments, including the firm’s ETF issuing arm. The deal, if completed, would mark the second major ETF-related acquisition for Invesco this year following the announcement in April that it would be taking control of Europe-based asset manager Source.