BATS Global Markets has unveiled the BATS ETF Marketplace, an exchange specifically designed for the listing and trading of ETPs. Launched concurrently with the new exchange are two initiatives aimed at offering incentives to issuers and market makers respectively. The BATS Issuer Incentive program offers an annual rebate to issuers based on the consolidated average daily volume (CADV) of trading occurring on their ETPs, while the BATS Lead Market Maker program is a rewards-based program providing incentives through possible rebates to market makers for providing liquidity on their assigned ETPs. Collectively they seek to broaden the scope and boost the liquidity of BATS-listed products.

Huygens Capital, the robo-advisor and ETF strategist, has brought its tactical, risk-focused robo-advisor offering to market. “Most robo-advisors manage risk by constructing an initial, diversified, multi-asset portfolio for a client, and then maintaining that static asset allocation with periodic rebalancing whenever the portfolio deviates from it,” said Walter Vester, chief executive officer of Huygens. “Our approach addresses a need not satisfied by today’s robo-advisors. We believe the key to growing our clients’ assets is to invest them in US equities while striving to protect against periods of high equity market risk.”

iShares, the world’s largest provider of exchange-traded funds and a division of investment giant BlackRock, has introduced the iShares Currency Hedged JPX-Nikkei 400 ETF (HJPX). Jane Leung, Managing Director of BlackRock iShares, said: “iShares Currency Hedged JPX-Nikkei 400 ETF allows investors to gain broad exposure to Japanese companies that have been selected based on perceived shareholder-friendly activities, while mitigating for currency movements. Investors can easily combine the fund with its unhedged version, to tailor currency risk while maintaining consistent Japanese equity exposure.”

State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), the asset manager behind the SPDR brand of exchange-traded funds, has expanded their range of sector-specific SPDR ETFs by introducing two new funds that track firms operating in the US financial services and the real estate space respectively. The inclusion of the Financial Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLFS) and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) bring the number of ETFs within the suite to eleven, broadening the options for investors making sector allocations within the S&P 500.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed a package of reforms designed to enhance effective liquidity risk management by open-end funds, such as exchange-traded funds and mutual funds. “Promoting stronger liquidity risk management is essential to protecting the interests of the millions of Americans who invest in mutual funds and ETFs,” said SEC Chair Mary Jo White. “These significant reforms would require funds to better manage their liquidity risks, give them new tools to meet that requirement, and enhance the Commission’s oversight.”

IndexIQ, a New York based asset management firm, has announced the launch of the IQ Leaders GTAA Tracker ETF (NYSE Arca: QGTA) which provides exposure to the performance characteristics of leading global allocation mutual funds. The ETF does not invest in these mutual funds itself, but rather in a portfolio of highly liquid, low-cost ETFs that, when taken as a whole, is designed to replicate leading global allocation mutual funds’ aggregate performance. Global Allocation mutual funds are able to rapidly switch between asset classes and geographic regions, allowing them to pursue opportunities and avoid painful downturns.

Charles Schwab, a low-cost broker and ETF provider, has released the 2015 ETF Investor Study which explores investors’ opinions and attitudes on key trends within the exchange-traded fund industry. The report found that investors were assigning one-fifth (21%) of their portfolios to ETFs. This represents significant growth from a 16% allocation to ETFs that was recorded in 2012. Furthermore, one-third of investors (34%) plan to use ETFs as their core investment type within their portfolios in the future.

John Hancock Investments, the Boston-based mutual fund business, has listed six smart beta exchange-traded funds designed to generate attractive relative performance through a multi-factor investment strategy. “Investors are facing a proliferation of ETF strategies today, and many investors are looking for more than just low-cost access to markets. For those reasons, it was important to us to develop an ETF product that seeks to address investor needs for performance potential, backed by an investment approach rooted in decades of academic research,” said Andrew G. Arnott, president and CEO of John Hancock Investments.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management, the investment bank’s exchange-traded fund issuing arm, has announced its fourth smart beta ETF, providing US equity exposure with the potential for better risk-adjusted returns. “Investors have been able to participate in the upside of a market recovery over the past several years, but they are still concerned about continued market volatility,” said Robert Deutsch, Global Head of ETFs for J.P. Morgan Asset Management. “JPUS provides a solution for US equities that helps keep clients invested across market cycles by attempting to capture most of the upside with a goal of providing less volatility in down markets.”

Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM), the asset management arm of US investment bank Goldman Sachs, has expanded their smart beta “ActiveBeta” exchange-traded fund range with the launch of an emerging markets ETF. “We see growth opportunities across various sectors in emerging markets, and the Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Emerging Markets Equity ETF is designed to capture returns from these pockets of growth,” said Michael Crinieri, GSAM’s Global Head of ETF Strategies.