Guggenheim Investments has placed 16 ETFs on E*TRADE’s commission-free trading platform including the $11.8bn Guggenheim S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (NYSE: RSP). William Belden, Managing Director and Head of ETF Product Development at Guggenheim Investments, commented: “Guggenheim’s participation in E*TRADE’s Commission-Free ETF platform underscores our ongoing commitment to providing investors access to innovative solutions through our distinctive ETF product line. Equal weight strategies represent an alternative to traditional cap-weighted strategies, which have several potential drawbacks.”

Elkhorn Investments has launched the industry’s first US midcap sector-based ETFs on Bats ETF Marketplace. Each ETF tracks securities from the parent S&P MidCap 400 Index which have been classified according to their respective GICS sector. Referred to as the ‘sweet spot’ of investing, midcaps may provide the financial strength of comparable large caps with the growth potential of small caps. Graham Day, Head of Product and Research, at Elkhorn Investments, commented: “We are excited to bring to market what may be the last frontier of beta exposure to an important area of US equities.”

Direxion has launched the Direxion Daily Consumer Staples Bear 1X Shares (NYSE: SPLZ) and the Direxion Daily Utilities Bear 1X Shares (NYSE: UTLZ), providing single inverse exposure to the performance of US firms operating in the consumer staples and utilities sectors respectively. The firm is building out its suite of inverse US sector ETFs having previously launched funds targeting companies within the energy, technology and financial sectors.

Mirae Asset Global Investments has launched the Mirae Asset Horizons S&P Asia ex Japan Healthcare ETF on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, offering local investors access to the performance of healthcare companies listed in Asian countries excluding Japan. The Asia ex-Japan healthcare sector is expected to grow at a rate of 6.6% per annum by 2019, according to David Tsoi, an ETF analyst at Mirae. The Indian and Chinese healthcare markets are of particular interest, as high growth of 16% and 8.8% respectively are expected in these two markets.

Amplify ETFs has launched the Amplify YieldShares CWP Dividend & Option Income ETF (Bats: DIVO), an actively managed fund combining an investment in 20 to 25 dividend paying stocks from the S&P 500 Index with an opportunistic covered call writing program. Christian Magoon, CEO of Amplify Investments, commented: “DIVO’s two-fold income approach may help to hedge traditional dividend investors’ portfolios from a rising rate environment.”

CSOP Asset Management (CSOP) has launched the CSOP S&P China Sectors ETF on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, offering investors access to the country’s new growth sectors as China transitions from an investment-led to a consumption-led economy. The fund tracks the S&P New China Sectors Index which mimics the performance of the “new economy” spanning new technology, healthcare and pharmaceuticals sectors. The index has outperformed the broad-based HSCEI and MSCI China Index by 54% and 40% respectively since its inception at the end of October 2016.

Invesco PowerShares has launched two new ETFs tracking international developed and US small-cap stocks while tilting their portfolios towards greater exposure to high dividend and low volatility characteristics, two proven long-term drivers of outperformance. Dan Draper, Global Head of PowerShares by Invesco, commented: “Combining high dividend and low volatility factors in our two newest ETFs may also provide investors with more defensive access to equity income in the face of uncertain markets.”

Asia Index, a joint-venture between S&P Dow Jones and BSE, India’s first stock exchange, has launched the S&P BSE SENSEX 50 Index, tracking the 50 largest and liquid companies listed at BSE. The index may serve as the underlying for future investment products including ETFs. Alka Banerjee, CEO, Asia Index, commented: “With the launch of the S&P BSE SENSEX 50 Index, we aim to provide a more effective tool for institutional and retail investors’ growing needs.”

By Nick Leung, Research Analyst at WisdomTree:

“Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the US Presidential election caught many ETF investors out, as risk assets surprised to the upside and safe havens routed in the aftermath. WisdomTree’s Boost range of short and leveraged exchange traded notes has revealed that investors trying to protect themselves against an expected post-Trump sell-off actually missed out on further gains in US equities, which now sit at fresh record highs following upward moves of 3.0%.”

Significant falls in the value of emerging markets ETFs following the US presidential election – the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets UCITS ETF (LON: IDEM) tanked 8.4% in USD terms in the three days after the election – suggest investors believe the asset class could be set for more volatility under a president Trump. Emerging economies may suffer under Trump’s stewardship as his “America First” policy, designed to bring back manufacturing jobs to the US, could dampen domestic demand for exports from around the globe.