Weekly UCITS News (Friday)

EDHEC-Risk has welcomed the broadened focus of the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) consultation paper on ETFs and other UCITS issues (ESMA/2012/44), which approaches important issues in a horizontal way across all UCITS rather than in a vertical way limited to UCITS ETFs. »

ESMA has published a consultation paper (ESMA/2012/44) setting out future guidelines on UCITS Exchange-Traded Funds (UCITS ETFs) and other UCITS-related issues. The proposals cover both synthetic and physical UCITS ETFs and detail the obligations to come for UCITS ETFs, index-tracking UCITS, efficient portfolio management techniques, total return swaps and strategy indices for UCITS. »

Northern Trust has been selected to provide exchange traded fund (ETF) administration services to the LGIM Commodity Composite Source ETF, launched earlier this month by ETF provider, Source. »

iShares, the Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) platform of BlackRock, has expanded its commodity range with the launch of four ETFs that set new industry standards for commodity swap-based funds. By utilising iShares’ unique swap-based ETF platform, the new funds are designed to provide unparalleled levels of transparency and investor protection in the ETF market. »

New research at EDHEC-Risk Institute has addressed the question of the true risks of Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) in Europe in the light of issues raised by financial regulators and international organisations. »

Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) and Source have launched the LGIM Commodity Composite Source ETF. The fund, which tracks the LGIM Commodity Composite Index, is designed to offer high quality, diversified exposure to commodities in a UCITS-compliant ETF.  »

Contrary to the suggestions of some market pundits, European ETFs have fared well in 2011, particularly in comparison to the rest of the rest of the UCITS fund industry, says Source. »

On 1 November, db X-trackers held its ‘ETFs under the microscope’ seminar in London. The headline speaker at the event, Manooj Mistry (pictured), head of db X-trackers for the UK, outlined the evolution of index replication from its initial origins of full physical replication to the precision market tracking offered by swap-based ETFs today. »

Independent fund services provider Butterfield Fulcrum, and Luxembourg Investment Solutions SA (LIS), a regulated (UCITS-licensed) management company, have signed a strategic cooperation agreement to provide a complete suite of management company and fund administration services in Luxembourg. »

SEI has been selected by Nordic investment manager SpareBank1 Markets AS to provide full fund administration and trustee and custodial services for its new Irish-registered Ucits fund.  »