Investors should not be complacent to Additional Tier 1 (AT1) risks. That’s the message from Scope Ratings, a Berlin-based credit rating agency. The cautionary advice comes just weeks after the world’s first ETFs specifically linked to AT1 capital – ‘CoCo’ bond funds WisdomTree and Invesco – made their debut on LSE and Xetra.

A strong majority (83%) of institutional investors and wealth managers expect flows into environmental, social and governance (ESG) ETFs to increase between now and 2023, according to research commissioned by State Street Global Advisors.

JP Morgan has launched two new ETFs on Cboe BZX that are part of the firm’s ‘BetaBuilders’ range of funds – low cost, passively managed ETFs marketed as portfolio ‘building blocks’.a

Tradeweb has reported that fixed income ETFs saw strong net selling on its web-based marketplace for European-listed ETFs during May 2018. According to the MTF, ‘sells’ outstripped ‘buys’ in the asset class by 56% to 44%. By contrast, ‘buys’ surpassed ‘sells’ in both commodity and equity ETFs, by 59% to 41% and 54% to 46% respectively

FTSE Russell, a subsidiary of London Stock Exchange Group, has received regulatory approval from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to be authorized as a benchmark administrator under the European Union’s Benchmark Regulation. Mark Makepeace, CEO of FTSE Russell, commented, “We are committed to promoting the highest possible governance standards within our industry. As such, we fully embrace the principles within the European Benchmarks Regulation to enhance and promote transparency and openness in all benchmark decisions.”

European investors have highlighted their desire for more education around ETF investment, according to the results of the third annual European ETF Survey conducted by Brown Brothers Harriman. Andrew Craswell, senior vice president, BBH ETF Services, said, “Those asset managers who are able and willing to provide more in-depth ETF education to investors have a growing opportunity to add assets from existing customers, and cultivate new ones.”

Solactive has partnered with Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) to launch the Solactive L&G Gender in Leadership UK Index. The index provides exposure to UK large-, mid- and small-cap equities from firms that score well in terms of gender diversity in the workplace. Timo Pfeiffer, head of research at Solactive, commented, “As an all cap index, the Solactive L&G Gender in Leadership UK Index can be used to track the performance of gender diversity among UK-listed companies and gain more exposure to those with better scores.”

Twenty-two ETFs or new ETF share classes debuted on London Stock Exchange in April, bringing the total number of new listings (including ETPs) year-to-date to 151. Last month saw launches on LSE from ETF providers BlackRock, DWS, First Trust, VanEck, and SSGA.

WisdomTree has launched the WisdomTree AT1 CoCo Bond UCITS ETF (CCBO LN) on London Stock Exchange, providing exposure to contingent convertible (CoCo) bonds issued by financial institutions from developed European countries. Rafi Aviav, WisdomTree head of product development in Europe, said, “This is a major development for investors globally who can now, for the first time, gain diversified exposure in a UCITS structure to the AT1 CoCo market with the ease and efficiency of trading an ETF.”

State Street Global Advisors has introduced a distributing share class for the SPDR FTSE UK All Share UCITS ETF. The new share class, available on both Deutsche Börse and London Stock Exchange, will suit income-seeking investors looking for comprehensive access to the UK equity market.