Amundi has launched the Amundi European Equity Multi Factor Market Neutral ETF (MKTN FP) on Euronext Paris, providing a means for investors to gain access to the long-term potential of factor risk premia without being exposed to the direction of European equity markets. Fannie Wurtz, managing director at Amundi ETF, commented: “In today’s low yield environment, investors are on the lookout for new ways to generate return and diversify their portfolios. This new ETF shows our ongoing determination to give investors transparent and effective investment solutions.”

Robo-advisor Scalable Capital has reached €500 million in assets 22 months after launching in Germany and 16 months after launching in the UK. The firm uses proprietary risk management algorithms to manage portfolios built using ETFs for clients.

Weekly flows analysis from ETF Securities shows that oil ETFs saw outflows of $73 million on the back of profit taking during the week commencing 30 October. Oil has risen steadily in price since the summer and the outflows come as Brent crude closed at a two-year high of $64.27 on 6 November.

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has reported that total on-exchange value traded for ETFs in October 2017 was £27 billion through 290k trades, an increase of 3% compared to October 2016. The average order book trade size for ETFs was £38k during the month.

Tradeweb has reported that all ETF asset classes saw net buying in October, according to its most recent monthly trading report. October proved to be another strong month for the platform as total traded volume surpassed €13.7 billion, beating September by more than half a billion euros.

ETFs tracking the FTSE 100 Index have rallied as the UK blue-chip index closed at a new record high of 7,560 on Friday 3 November 2017, driven by a strong global economy and a weak pound. Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at brokers Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Stock market investors continue to reap the rewards of loose monetary policy and an improving global economy.”

The Bank of England (BoE) has announced a widely expected increase in the base rate from 0.25% to 0.50%, the first rise in over a decade, after the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee voted 7-2 in favour of the hike. Market commentators from across the ETF industry share their interpretations of the rate rise.

By Nizam Hamid, ETF Strategist at WisdomTree in Europe.

European investors are increasingly allocating to growth as a style. Over the past nine years, equity assets in the growth category increased by close to 12.5% per annum, outstripping both value and blended/market capitalisation categories. The current strength of Eurozone economic fundamentals, with higher expected rates of growth, combined with the end to quantitative easing which is likely to be a prelude to rising rates, sets the scene for a continued focus on growth strategies.

Peter Sleep, Senior Investment Manager, Seven Investment Management (7IM) explores some criticisms of ETFs that have recently been levelled by some commentators in the media.

A survey from KPMG commissioned by BlackRock released today shines a light on the index investing habits of financial advisers and wealth managers: how and why they are using ETFs and index mutual funds, as well as how they are reacting to regulation and technological change.