2023 was a fairly fulfilling one with a record stock market performance for the US, a record annual ETF performance for the VanEck Crypto and Blockchain Innovators ETF, record ETF inflows across the globe, the SEC finally approving a spot Bitcoin ETF and let’s not forget, a new war.

Hands up anyone who would have predicted that at the beginning of last year?

So what’s in store for 2024? Can anyone really tell?

Is it worth listening to experts “forecasts”?

 

Fund Launches and Updates

 

EUROPE

 

VanEck has launched two US wide moat ETFs. The VanEck Morningstar US Wide Moat UCITS ETF (MOTU) and VanEck Morningstar US SMID Moat UCITS ETF (SMOT) are listed on the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Boerse with total expense ratios (TERs) of 0.46% and 0.49%, respectively. link

 

Wisdomtree and Invesco both cut fees on their respective Bitcoing ETPs WisdomTree Physical Bitcoin ETP (BTCW) was cut from 0.95% to 0.35% and the Invesco Physical Bitcoin ETP (BTIC) was cut from from 0.99% to 0.39%. link

 

Amundi to merge €4.9bn global SRI PAB ETF into Irish-domiciled equivalent, Amundi said the Amundi Index MSCI World SRI PAB UCITS ETF (WSRI) will be absorbed into the newly created Amundi MSCI World SRI Climate Net Zero Ambition PAB UCITS ETF.

The new ETF will have a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.18%. link

 

 AMERICAS

 

Roundhill Investments announced the launch of the Roundhill Bitcoin Covered Call Strategy ETF (YBTC) on the Cboe BZX. The actively managed YBTC is the first bitcoin covered call strategy ETF to list in the U.S. link

Calamos Advisors has launched the Calamos CEF Income & Arbitrage ETF (NYSE Arca: CCEF) on the New York Stock Exchange. The actively managed ETF seeks high current income and long-term capital appreciation and charges 0.74%. link

F/m Investments has introduced a new series of ETFs providing precision-maturity exposure to investment-grade credit. Listed on NYSE Arca, the new suite consists of three funds at launch that target corporate bonds around the two-year, three-year, and ten-year tenors of the yield curve.

They are the F/m 2-Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (ZTWO US), F/m 3-Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (ZTRE US), and F/m 10-Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (ZTEN US). Each fund comes with an expense ratio of 0.15%. link

First Trust has launched a new actively managed ETF that seeks to provide long-term capital appreciation, the FT Raymond James Multicap Growth Equity ETF (NYSE Arca: RJMG) (“the fund”). The Model Portfolio is developed and overseen by the fund’s non-discretionary investment sub-advisor, Raymond James & Associates, Inc. (“Raymond James”). link

 

ASIA-PACIFIC

 

ChinaAMC, E Fund and Taiwan’s Yuanta have been among the biggest beneficiaries in the Asia-Pacific region as homegrown asset managers grab limelight in Asia ETF boom.

Taiwan, South Korea and China stood out as the fastest-growing ETF markets in the Asia-Pacific region during the first nine months of 2023, with ETF asset growth rates of between 26 per cent and 31 per cent, Broadridge data show. link

Hong Kong-based Venture Smart Financial Holdings is preparing to launch a spot bitcoin ETF by the end of March as the territory forges ahead with plans to turn itself into a hub for digital assets, Bloomberg reports.

The firm intends to file an application with the SFC after the local regulator last month announced that it would allow retail funds to incorporate exposure to virtual assets for the first time, including permitting virtual asset spot ETFs, which invest directly in cryptocurrencies. link

 

 

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In this episode we hear from Hector McNeill, Co CEO & Founder at HANetf. Listen to him HERE.

 

Flows

 

Newly-minted spot bitcoin ETFs pulled in $3.33 billion in their first five days of trading. The biggest spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), struggled.

The fund, which came to market as a $28.6 billion trust, lost $5.5 billion, or 19% of its value, according to Bloomberg data, likely due to fees that are the highest among the 11 spot bitcoin funds approved Jan. 11.

The iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) led the group, pulling in $1.2 billion since Jan. 11, while the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) has grabbed $1.06 billion. The Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) brought in $393.8 million, the third-most. link

European Bitcoin ETPs see significant outflows as U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs launch, per BitMEX Research data. link

• Assets invested in the ETFs industry in Europe reached a new milestone of $1.82 Tn at the end of 2023 beating the previous record of $1.72 Tn at the end of November 2023.
• Assets increased 28.2% in 2023, going from $1.42 Tn at end of 2022 to $1.82 Tn.
• 2023 net inflows of $155.91 Bn are second highest on record after 2021 net inflows of $193.46 B

 

Noteworthy

 

The top best performing ETPs in Europe in 2023 made for something interesting with the VanEck’s blockchain equity strategy seeing the highest ever annual returns for an ETF.

 

Name	Total Ret 2023
VanEck Crypto& Blckchan Innovtr ETF AUSD	254.88%
Global X Blockchain ETF USD Acc	246.95%
XBT Provider Bitcoin Tracker EUR ETN	161.28%
Grayscale Future of Finance ETF USD Acc	127.74%
ETC Grp Dgtl Assts & Blckchn Eq ETF $Acc	122.31%
WisdomTree Blockchain UCITS ETF USD Acc	107.60%
XBT Provider Ether Tracker Euro ETN	89.50%
Amundi MSCI Semicon ESG Scrnd ETF Acc	68.00%
VanEck Semiconductor ETF	63.38%
Franklin Metaverse ETF USD Acc	61.38%

 

Grayscale Investments CEO Michael Sonnenshein told CNBC that most of the approved bitcoin exchange-traded funds won’t survive, while defending the highest fees in the market for the company’s own product. link

 

Movers and Shakers

 

BlackRock is shaking up the top ranks of management, creating a new global product strategy group led by Stephen Cohen that will latch onto the global growth of ETFs and combine active and index strategies.  The world’s largest asset manager also promoted Rachel Lord as head of all international business across Europe, the Middle East, India and Asia-Pacific.

Tabula Investment Management has hired former BlackRock deputy wealth head for Switzerland Mark Vallon.

 

From behind the Desk

 

We are three weeks into January and bonus numbers for the year are beginning to trickle in.

So far not so good it seems, with most at best flat on last year.

Still early days I suppose, but my inkling is not too many people will be heading to the Ferrari dealership this year. I could be wrong.

 

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