Coming back after the summer break always reminds me of the return to school, those dreaded back to school adverts, buying school uniforms and getting new books for the year ahead. Yuck!

For those of you shuffling back into the office you missed out on last week’s big news. Grayscale gave the SEC a bloody nose and the price of Bitcoin took a jump as a result. High drama indeed. Who said summer was always a quiet time.

 

Fund Launches and Updates

 

EMEA

 

First Trust has expanded its UCITS ETF range with the launch of an actively-managed US equity buffer ETF.

The First Trust Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer UCITS ETF (GAUG) is listed on the London Stock Exchange with a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.85%. GAUG is an actively-managed target outcome ETF that offers exposure to the S&P 500 via FLexible EXchange (FLEX) option. etfstrategy

 

JP Morgan Asset Management is converting its high yield bond multi-factor ETF into an actively-managed product.

As of 23 August, the $170m JPMorgan High Yield Corporate Bond Multi-Factor UCITS ETF (JGHY) ) no longer tracks the JP Morgan Asset Management Global High Yield Multi-Factor index and now aims to outperform the ICE BofA Global High Yield index. etfstream

 

UBS Asset Management has launched an ETF tracking emerging market stocks that exclude China. The UBS ETF MSCI Emerging Markets ex China UCITS ETF (EMXCN) is listed on Deutsche Boerse and the Six Swiss Exchange with a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.16% etfstrategy

 

Rize ETF has expanded its range with the launch of global sustainable infrastructure and US environmental impact ETFs.

The Rize Global Sustainable Infrastructure UCITS ETF (NFRA) and Rize USA Environmental Impact UCITS ETF (LUSA) are listed on Deutsche Boerse and London Stock Exchange with ongoing charges figures of 0.45%. They will list on the SIX Swiss Exchange in due course. funds-europe

 

Usually, fees go down not up but not in this case as Amundi has increased the TER on two funds as part of a mini overhaul.

Effective 4 October, the $74m Amundi Prime US Treasury Bond 0-1Y UCITS ETF (PR1T) will change from tracking the Solactive US Treasury Bond 0-1Y index to the Bloomberg US Treasury index and will be renamed the Amundi US Treasury Bond 0-1Y UCITS ETF.Meanwhile, the $1bn Amundi Prime Euro Corporates UCITS ETF (PR1C) will go from replicating the Solactive Euro IG Credit index to the Bloomberg Euro Corporate Bond index and will be rebranded the Amundi EUR Corporate Bond UCITS ETF.The rebrands will see two ETFs removed from Amundi’s low-cost ‘prime’ range, with PR1C also set to have its total expense ratio (TER) increased from 0.05% to 0.07%.

Elsewhere, from 29 September the $680m Amundi MSCI USA UCITS ETF (CU2) will undergo an ESG makeover, going from tracking the MSCI USA index to the MSCI USA ESG Leaders Select 5% Capped index and being renamed the Amundi MSCI USA ESG Leaders UCITS ETF.

CU2 will see its fees increase from 0.28% to 0.35% and will be upgraded from Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) Article 6 to Article 8. etfstream

 

AMERICAS

 

GMO, co-founded by legendary investor Jeremy Grantham, plans to offer its first ETF.

The GMO U.S. Quality ETF, an actively managed fund, will invest primarily in equities of U.S. companies that GMO, the fund’s adviser, deems to be of high quality, according to the Aug. 21 filing pionline

Madison Investments has expanded its suite of actively managed, income-driven ETFs with the Madison Aggregate Bond ETF (NYSE Arca: MAGG).

Madison plans to list a second fixed income fund, the Madison Short Term Strategic Income ETF (MSTI), in the coming weeks. MAGG has an expense ratio of 0.40%. etftrends

American Beacon Advisors announced the launch of its debut exchange traded fund: the American Beacon AHL Trend ETF (NYSE Arca: AHLT).

The actively managed ETF uses quantitative models to identify and profit from market trends of more than 20 global markets yahoo

Strive Asset Management has launched the Strive FAANG 2.0 ETF (NYSE: FTWO).

The Strive FAANG 2.0 ETF (NYSE: FTWO) offers investors exposure to capture the projected growth within sectors essential for global stability, offering investors the option to tap into industries that sustain and secure the modern way of life- Fuel (F), Aerospace (A), Agriculture (A), Nuclear (N), and Gold (G) businesswire

 

ASIA-PACIFIC

 

China’s securities regulator approved 17 exchange traded funds on a single day as part of a speeded-up process that resulted in three dozen public funds being authorised for sale.

The ETFs, which were part of the unusually large number of approvals on Friday last week, will invest in small-cap stocks and technology start-ups, according to regulatory filings posted on the China Securities Regulatory Commission website.

Of the new ETFs, 10 will replicate the new CSI 2000 index of small-cap stocks listed on Chinese stock exchanges, while the remaining seven will follow two similar indices that track companies specialising in information technology innovation. FT

 

Flows

 

ETFGI reports that assets invested in the global ETFs industry reached a record of US$10.86 trill.

• Assets have increased 17.3% YTD in 2023, going from $9.26 Tn at end of 2022 to $10.86 Tn.
• Net inflows of $87.16 Bn gathered during July.
• YTD net inflows of $464.40 Bn are the third highest on record, after YTD net inflows of $739.16 Bn in 2021 and YTD net inflows of $504.75 Bn in 2022.
• 50th month of consecutive net inflows.

 

A podcast series focused on exploring the career journey of industry leaders within the ETF and Digital Assets space. Get to hear their personal story and be inspired.

This week we speak to Georgia Stewart, co-founder and CEO of Tumelo, a UK based company whose mission is to empower shareholder democracy with technology that supports impactful stewardship.

 

Noteworthy

 

Grayscale has won a landmark court ruling against US regulators as it seeks to launch a US-listed ETF tracking the price of flagship cryptocurrency token bitcoin.

A federal appeals court in Washington DC on Tuesday ruled the Securities and Exchange Commission was wrong to reject Grayscale’s application to convert its flagship vehicle — Grayscale Bitcoin Trust — into an ETF. FT

Bloomberg analysts have raised the probability for an approved spot Bitcoin ETF by the end of 2023, following a recent Grayscale victory against the federal securities regulator.

In a Aug. 30 post on X (Twitter), Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said they have raised the chances to 75% from an earlier 65%. cointelegraph

With so much Bitcoin news in the air, it’s easy to lose track with what the state of play is. This article does a good job at explaining it. cointelegraph

The ETF white label issuer that isn’t a white label issuer. (check out Blackwater founder Michael O’Riordan’s recent Linkedin post to refer to what we mean here).

Goldman Sachs Accelerator begins to launch its first ETFs. etf.com

 

Movers and Shakers

 

Axa IM continues its ETF hiring spree with the hire of Adrian Steiner from JP Morgan to head up ETF Sales in Switzerland.

 

Pasquale Afflisio is moving from Frankfurt to NY with DWS to lead up their ETF Sales Strategy Americas team.

 

From behind the Desk

 

Should companies scrap working on a Friday?

This was the topic of an interesting article in the FT recently arguing that most people view Fridays as a dead day where little actually happens in the way of work. It definitely makes sense to me as work should be about productivity and not simply clocking in the hours.

Maybe someone should share this with Larry Fink.

Word on the street is the morale at BlackRock is not good these days after the company reversed its policy on remote working.