Luxury in high demand in post pandemic world 

The great and the good have come out to support the launch of LGBTQ Loyalty Holdings’ first ETF targeted at the LGBTQ community, with Martina Navratilova on the board, saying: “I am thrilled that the launch of the LGBTQ + ESG100 ETF has arrived. Today is an important day for advancing equality, as we showcase companies that align and support the LGBTQ community through this announcement. Seeing the trading symbol ‘LGBT’ listed on Nasdaq is truly historic.” 

BNY Mellon Investment Management has filed with the SEC to launch a new active sustainable ETF solution, the BNY Mellon Responsible Horizons Corporate Bond ETF. 

A poll of European retail investors conducted by Leverage Shares, the European pioneer in S&L ETPs on single stocks, has revealed that, in the UK, the number one irritation was not being able to buy crypto ETPs, followed by the costs of FX conversion – particularly onerous for active traders – and the fact that many Asian stocks, held within an ISA, can’t be bought individually because the Asian exchanges are not deemed to be properly regulated. 

Not for profit financial think tank Planet Tracker has been at it again, bringing disruption and challenges to the world of index providers. Their new report, finds that the largest index providers, MSCI, FTSE Russell, S&P Dow Jones and Bloomberg, are being challenged by innovative competitors – including their own clients – due to rising demand for sustainable investment.

With the growth factor disappearing in the rear-view mirror, recent talk has been all about value, but Simeon Hyman, Head of Investment Strategy at USD54 billion ETF issuer ProShares, reminds us that momentum is important too. 

ETF group Strategy Shares has just launched the first Gold-Hedged Bond ETF (GLDB), designed to enable investors to generate income from a portfolio of investment grade corporate bonds, while hedging against inflation with a gold overlay.  

May you live in interesting times is, famously, a curse, but a low volatility ETF from Invesco, the S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF (SPLV), has sailed through some 10 years of ‘interesting times’, and its performance provides an interesting overview of market volatility over that period, and along with its higher volatility sibling, SPHB, might even provide a little opportunity to forecast what lies ahead. 

Always the contrarians, ARK’s cryptocurrency analyst, Yassine Elmandjra, has commented on Elon Musk’s announcement last week that, henceforth, Tesla would not be accepting bitcoin for the purchase of its vehicles, this, roughly three months after its USD1.5 billion investment in the currency, and just one month after announcing that it would take bitcoin in payment for its cars. 

Lyxor ETF’s Money Monitor for April 2021 reveals that despite solid asset accumulation in April across equity funds and ETFs, concerns over reflationary pressures and higher government bond yields weighed further on the market momentum.  

European ETF promoters in Europe experienced estimated net inflows of EUR16.3 billion for April, according to Lipper data, with assets under management in the European ETF industry hitting a new all-time high (EUR1,124.0 billion) at the end of April 2021.