Very interesting to see Blackrock launch an Active Fixed Income ETF for star portfolio manager Rick Rieder.

This was no doubt a response to the run-away success that JP Morgan has had with the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income Active ETF (now at $25.9bn AUM) managed by one of their star portfolio managers, Hamilton Reiner.

The active manager battle within ETF is now well and truly on.

Fund Launches and Updates

 

EMEA

 

Chimera Capital an Abu Dhabi-based asset manager, has unveiled a new ETF in the United Arab Emirates providing Shariah-compliant exposure to Chinese equities listed in Hong Kong.

The Chimera S&P China HK Shariah ETF (CHHKSHIN) is available to trade through a distributing share class on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). The fund comes with an expense ratio of 1.00%. citywire

 

 

 AMERICAS

 

 

BlackRock has launched two active ETFs managed by Rick Rieder and Tony DeSpirito – the BlackRock Flexible Income ETF (BINC), benchmarked against the Bloomberg US Universal Index with Rick Rieder as portfolio manager, and the BlackRock Large Cap Value ETF (BLCV), benchmarked against the Russell 1000 Value Index and managed by Tony DeSpirito. etfexpress

 

Qraft Technologies launches AI-Pilot US Large Cap Dynamic Beta and Income ETF. Described by the firm as a first for the ETF space, “AIDB leverages Qraft’s proprietary AI-powered risk model making it the only, fully AI-powered risk managed ETF in the market”. etfexpress

 

Euclidean Technologies Management, a Seattle-based investment advisor has made its ETF debut with the launch of an actively managed US equity fund that uses artificial intelligence to identify value stocks.

The Euclidean Fundamental Value ETF (ECML US) has been listed on NYSE Arca with an expense ratio of 0.95%. The fund has come to market with approximately $130 million in assets under management. etfstrategy

RBC iShares has launched a new actively managed ETF in Canada providing exposure to high-quality USD fixed income securities that are trading at a discount to par.

The RBC US Discount Bond ETF has been listed on Toronto Stock Exchange in Canadian dollars (RUDB CN) and US dollars (RUDB.U CN) and is also available with CAD hedging (RDBH CN). etfstrategy

 

ASIA-PACIFIC

 

South Korea asset manager Shinhan Asset Management’s difficulties growing its exchange traded fund assets were partly the result of its former joint venture partnership with BNP Paribas Asset Management,  according to its  co-chief. FT

The Singapore Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange are working to establish a new exchange traded fund scheme as they seek to deepen cross-border connectivity for issuers and investors in Singapore and mainland China.

The two exchanges have signed a memorandum of understanding for an ETF scheme with a master-feeder fund model, allowing investors in both markets to access feeder ETFs that link to locally listed ETFs on each other’s exchanges. FT

Mirae Asset Mutual Fund, one of the fastest-growing fund houses in India, announced the launch of Mirae Asset Silver ETF  with a TER of 0.39% prnewswire

Betashares are to bring to market five new ETFs for investors in New Zealand under the country’s tax-efficient portfolio investment entity, or PIE, regime.

The five ETFs are the New Zealand-registered Betashares Global Sustainability Leaders Fund, Betashares Australian Sustainability Leaders Fund, Betashares Australia 200 Fund, Betashares Global Quality Leaders Fund and Betashares Australian Investment Grade Corporate Bond Fund (NZD hedged) vehicles. ignites

J.P. Morgan Asset Management has rolled out three new actively managed exchange-traded funds on the Australian Securities Exchange to cater to increased investor appetite for active strategies.

The JPMorgan Equity Premium Income Active ETF (Managed Fund) (Hedged), JPMorgan US 100Q Equity Premium Income Active ETF (Managed Fund) and JPMorgan US 100Q Equity Premium Income Active ETF (Managed Fund) (Hedged), all from the equity premium income strategy suite of funds. ignites

 

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Get to hear their personal story and be inspired clicking HERE

 

Flows

 

ETFGI reports actively managed ETFs listed globally gathered net inflows of US$7.36 billion during April.

• Year-to-date net inflows of $43.59 Bn in 2023 are the second highest on record, after year-to-date net inflows in 2021 of $61.15 Bn.
• 37th month of consecutive net inflows.
• Assets of $547 Bn invested in actively managed ETFs and ETPs industry at the end of April 2023.
• Assets increased 12.2% year-to-date in 2023, going from $487 Bn at the end of 2022 to $547 Bn.

Noteworthy

 

Assets managers are moving away from investing in mutual funds in a quest to offer broader options to investors, according to a report from consulting company Cerulli Associates, a trend that bodes well for exchange-traded funds.

The poll revealed that ETFs offer a solid investment opportunity for 79% of asset managers, 54% of whom use them. A quarter reported that even though they don’t invest in them now, they will start within the next 12 months, while 33% said they had no plans to do so.

As for the development of ETFs, the asset managers were split on whether to build out new products or replicate existing on. etf.com

As of year-end 2022, U.S. insurance companies invested $37 billion in ETFs.

This represented only a fraction of the $6.5 trillion in U.S. ETF assets under management and the $7.9 trillion in invested assets of U.S. insurance companies, according to a new report from S&P Dow Jones Indices. spglobal

 

Additional reads

 

ETFs accounted for a record 30.7 % of US stock market turnover last year, a jump of more than a fifth from their 25.3 % share in 2021 according to data from The Investment Company Institute. FT

 

 

Movers and Shakers

 

A new segment to the newsletter focusing on people moves within the industry.

 

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing has tapped Andrew Loong as managing director and head of digital assets.

Loong will oversee the development of the digital assets’ ecosystem in the HKEX’s markets, including digital product offerings and building a digital infrastructure in the territory.

 

From behind the Desk

 

Last week was a big one for conferences with Inside ETFs taking place in Miami and ETF Stream hosting ETF Ecosystem Unwrapped in Europe. Feedback from both seems excellent so kudos to all involved and roll on next year.