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ETF Research & Insights
ETF Investors Sell US Equities in Downturn
Market News -
Exchange traded fund (ETF) investors in Europe backed US equities through 2018 - until the December downturn caused an about turn in sentiment. The best-selling global category with European ETF investors last year was US Equity Large Cap Blend, which saw net inflows of €18.6 billion according to Morningstar Direct data – more than any calendar year in the past decade. Meanwhile, US Equity Large Cap Growth ETFs also saw their highest amount of net...
China Fails to Pass ESG Test
Market News -
Emerging-markets ESG filters help investors to align their asset allocation with their values, but they also create large unintended country bets. The UBS MSCI Emerging Markets SRI ETF (UC79) and the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets SRI ETF (SUSM) provide exposure to emerging-markets firms that have a limited negative impact on the environment; promote diversity and have good relationships with key stakeholders, including employees; and strong corporate governance systems. They also exclude companies in...
ETF Sales Triple to Record High
Market News -
The European exchange-traded fund market has got off to a stellar star in 2017, with record-high net inflows of €33.4 billion in the first quarter, tripling the €11.1 billion registered in the closing three months of 2016. Assets under management at the end of the first quarter amounted to €601 billion, and were up 10.2% from €545.7 billion at the end of 2016. US and European Equities Prove Popular...
Gold Bounces Despite Fed Rate Rise
Market News -
The gold price rose 2.3% to $1,230 yesterday after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates in the US amid signs that inflation is moving higher. The gold price reaction was a surprise; in general when interest rates rise, the price of the precious metal will fall. This is because rising rates are a sign of a healthy economy, and gold is used as a hedge against recession and uncertainty. But today gold price...
Investors Pour $63bn into ETFs
Market News -
Investors poured cash into passive funds at the beginning of the year, with global exchange-traded funds seeing inflows s twice the average inflows of the past nine years, data from Morningstar Direct revealed. The nine-year average for monthly flows into ETFs globally is $22 billion, while in January worldwide ETFs recorded inflows of $63 billion. This was the highest monthly figure since September 2015, when ETFs saw global inflows of $73 billion. The...
What is a Minimum Volatility ETF?
Market News -
The popularity of strategic-beta ETFs has risen sharply over the past few years. One of the fastest growing segments are those exchange traded funds which aim to reduce risk within an equity portfolio; called low-volatility and min-volatility funds. From the launch of the first minimum volatility ETF by Amundi in 2009, the total number of products has mushroomed to almost 70 globally, according to Morningstar’s classification, amassing nearly $45 billion of...
Gold ETF Inflows Spike Ahead of the US Election
Market News -
Magpie investors continue to crave gold bullion as a hedge against the global political uncertainty, data from Morningstar shows. The precious metals ETF sector recorded €818 million inflows in October alone, the biggest inflows across all sectors, according to Morningstar Direct. ETFS Physical Gold (PHGP) was one of the five most clicked exchange-traded funds among Morningstar.co.uk readers in October ahead of the US Presidential Election. Investors also were researching ETFs that track...
Passive Fund Fees Fall as Smart Beta ETF Market Grows
Market News -
Strategic beta, widely referred to as “smart beta,” refers broadly to a growing group of indexes and the exchange-traded products and other funds and investment products that track them. The majority of these indexes seek to enhance returns or minimise risk relative to a traditional market-capitalisation-weighted benchmark. Others seek to address oft-cited drawbacks of standard benchmarks, such as the overweighting of the most-indebted issuers in market-cap-weighted fixed-income...
Which ETFs Will Be Boosted by the Bond Buying?
Market News -
The outlook for the UK economy has been revised down in the wake of the vote in favour to leave the EU. To address that risk, the Bank of England decided at its August 2016 meeting to provide further monetary stimulus, bringing interest rates to a new historical low of 0.25% and expanding the quantitative easing programme by £70 billion, of which £10 billion in corporate bonds and the remainder in the gilts. Judging...
Gold ETFs Net €3bn Safe Haven Inflows in 3 Months
Market News -
The European exchange-traded-fund market netted in close to €8 billion of new money in the second quarter of 2016. This represented a decline from the €11 billion of net inflows registered in the first quarter. Assets under management at the end of the second quarter amounted to €482.4 billion; a 4.2% increase from €462.9 billion at the end of the previous period. Given the general investment environment in the second...
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