Deutsche Asset Management is planning to cross-list four ETFs, two corporate bond and two low-cost ‘core’ equity funds, on London Stock Exchange. Simon Klein, head of passive distribution, EMEA and APAC, Deutsche Asset Management, says the cross-listings “expand the opportunities for investors in ETF format” and help “make these funds available to as wide an audience as possible”.

ETFs tracking the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 are set for a reshuffle following the latest quarterly review from index provider FTSE Russell. Changes to the blue-chip FTSE 100, underlying index to the £5bn iShares Core FTSE 100 UCITS ETF (ISF), will see NMC Health and Berkeley Group added at the expense of Provident Financial and Royal Mail.

Vanguard has announced that, as of 5 September 2017, it plans to shorten the settlement cycle process for its UCITS-compliant ETFs sold on the secondary market from three business days after the trade date (T+3) to two business days after the trade date (T+2).

By WisdomTree’s economic research team.

After getting past a variety of elections—most notably the French presidential election—without anti-market sentiment spreading throughout Europe, we have seen a relatively large shift in equity market performance. Fundamentals within Europe were allowed to drive performance as opposed to equity markets needing to be wary of Brexit or Trump-like election surprises.

Shares of subprime lender Provident Financial, a favourite of star fund manager Neil Woodford, have dived nearly 70% following a profit warning, the resignation of its CEO and the cancellation of its dividend. While the stock is held in many well-known equity income funds, including strategies from Invesco Perpetual’s Mark Barnett plus actively managed funds from Jupiter, Rathbones, M&G and Aberdeen, it is notably absent from the BMO MSCI UK Income Leaders UCITS ETF (ZILK) and SPDR S&P UK Dividend Aristocrats UCITS ETF (UKDV) – two smart beta ETFs that deploy rules-based screens to achieve dividend sustainability.

Peter Sleep, senior investment manager, Seven Investment Management (7IM) takes a look at key developments over the decade that he’s spent with 7IM. He reviews falling fees, the arrival of new players, through to some potential challengers for the future.

By Dr. Jan-Carl Plagge, Head of Research – STOXX

Recent political events such as the US and the French election were found to have had a major impact on stock markets. While the impact of such events may often be short-lived, Brexit will remain on the agenda as the country is negotiating its withdrawal from the European Union over the next two years. In this context, investors face a number of challenges when considering such political events in their portfolio management.

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.”

Eleven new ETFs were listed on London Stock Exchange in July 2017, bringing the total number of ETFs or ETPs listed on the exchange to 921 and 457 respectively. ETF providers listing on the London market during July included Lyxor, BMO, ETF Securities and BlackRock.

By Nizam Hamid , ETF strategist at WisdomTree in Europe.

Fixed income has been at the heart of European investor portfolios for many years with average allocations in 2016 standing at 51%. Even in an environment of low or negative yielding domestic government bonds, overall allocations have remained high. Now eurozone government bond investors are overwhelmingly focused on the risks relating to the end of quantitative easing and the potential for a rise in interest rates at some point in 2018.