ETF data provider TrackInsight has launched ESG ETF platform, ESG Observatory, on the back of the huge growth in demand for ESG ETFs observed during 2020.
Germany’s Deutsche Börse has published its review of its ETP business for 2020, noting that sustainability, thematic and cryptocurrencies ETFs dominated the year.
2020 was quite the year for ETFs, as assets continued to roll in, and many firms predict that 2021 will continue on much the same course.
Another week and another crypto launch for Switzerland’s SIX Exchange with the arrival of CoinShares with its new physically backed ETP, CoinShares Physical Bitcoin (BITC).
Refinitiv’s Lipper team reports that ETF promoters in Europe experienced estimated net inflows of EUR23.2 billion for December, while assets under management in the European ETF industry (EUR992.6 billion) increased during December.
Value investing is under the spotlight already this year, having spent some five to 10 years in the doldrums, outshone by its glamorous growth cousin. Brandon Rakszawski (pictured), Senior ETF Product Manager at VanEck, has noted that November 2020 saw the Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index come back strongly relative to the S&P 500 Index to erase a good portion of its 2020 relative underperformance.
Data from TrackInsight shows the global ETF market finished 2020 at a record high of USD7.6 trillion, across 6,518 ETFs. A combination of strong equity market performance coupled with accelerating investor inflows contributed to the new record, the firm says.
Less than a year since its first fund launches, and in a year unlike any other, new ETF issuer Rize ETF has seen its assets reach USD100 million in a range of thematic ETFs that have reflected the extraordinary times.
Research conducted by Cerulli Associates finds that thematic ETFs enjoyed a boom over 2020 and their popularity is set to continue over 2021. Net flows into sector-themed equity products during the first 10 months of 2020 amounted to EUR89 billion (USD108 billion), more than triple the net sales for 2019. Assets under management amounted to EUR512.4 billion at the close of October 2020, the firm says.
New ETF index provider, Blue Horizon Capital, working with Exchange Traded Concepts, is launching the Blue Horizon BNE ETF, focusing on the new energy economy.
Since launching active ETFs in the summer, Agility Shares has raised close to USD51 million. The ETFs are managed by USD2.1 billion Toews Asset Management and Dan Kullman (pictured), Director of Education and Training at the firm explains that the majority of the asset raise has been in THY, the firm’s Agility Shares Dynamic Tactical Income ETF, while the smaller asset base has gone into MRSK, the Agility Shares Managed Risk ETF, designed to attempt to lower drawdowns and lessen risk without capping any potential gains.
