MANAGER INSIGHTS

ARK enjoys stellar year as disruptive innovation hits its stride

Year to date figures for ARK Invest, the thematic investment firm focused on disruptive innovation, show their flagship fund, available as an ETF, and in a variety of other formats, ARK Disruptive Innovation, has returned 101.8 per cent year to date (as of 17/11/2020), while the firm’s assets, totalled at USD4 billion when ETF Express last interviewed them in 2018, are now USD33.3 billion (as of 31/10/2020).

By Beverly Chandler | 27/11/2020

Features

SS&C’s in-house asset manager ALPS Advisors celebrates arrival of semi-transparent ETFs and triumph of clean energy over traditional sources
SS&C’s in-house asset manager ALPS Advisors celebrates arrival of semi-transparent ETFs and triumph of clean energy over traditional sources

SS&C Technologies Holdings is the world’s largest hedge fund and private equity administrator, as well as the largest mutual fund transfer agency, responsible for USD1.7 trillion in assets.

By Beverly Chandler | 16/11/2020
Defiance ETFs launches into SPACs space with SPAK
Defiance ETFs launches into SPACs space with SPAK

That most fashionable, but potentially volatile, of sectors, Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) has seen enormous growth so far this year, with 133 SPACs, which are also known as blank cheque companies, floated in the US, raising USD51.1 billion, nearly four times last year’s volume, and a further 67 waiting to launch, according to Spac Research. Some 80 SPACs raised more than USD32 billion in Q3 2020.

By Beverly Chandler | 03/11/2020
INTERVIEW

New ETF gives pure play access to India’s financial services stocks for the first time

New ETF gives pure play access to India’s financial services stocks for the first time

US-based NextFins has launched INDF, the Nifty India Financials ETF, based on the Nifty Financial Services 25/50 Index, which reflects the performance of Indian banks, financial institutions, housing finance companies, insurance companies and other financial services companies.

By Beverly Chandler | 20/11/2020
IN MY OPINION

Three cheers for the innovators of Switzerland & three lashes for the UK’s Financial Services gatekeepers

Three cheers for the innovators of Switzerland & three lashes for the UK’s Financial Services gatekeepers

By Allan Lane, Algo-Chain – If you are a Discretionary Fund Manager running Model Portfolios on financial adviser platforms, you will often find that ETFs available on one platform are not available on another, which invariably forces the manager to oversee multiple incarnations of what is meant to be the same portfolio.

19/11/2020

Special Reports

IN MY OPINION

With the wrong type of smoke signals emanating from the FCA, what does the future hold for the UK’s Financial Services sector?

With the wrong type of smoke signals emanating from the FCA, what does the future hold for the UK’s Financial Services sector?

By Allan Lane, Algo-Chain – With the news that PayPal has entered the cryptocurrency market, quickly followed by the world’s biggest ever IPO, where Ant, the financial services arm of Alibaba, raised USD34 billion from investors, it would be fair to say that 2020 has proven to be a breakthrough year for the FinTech movement.  With Alipay reputedly accounting for USD17,000,000,000,000 in online payments, and with Ant’s share issue taking place in Asia rather than the US, the sheer scale of what is at stake here will not be lost on many.

By Mark Kitchen | 29/10/2020
RESEARCH

ICI paper details ETF ecosystem providing smooth market functioning and price discovery during March 2020 volatility

ICI paper details ETF ecosystem providing smooth market functioning and price discovery during March 2020 volatility

Despite unprecedented market volatility in March 2020, the structures for creating, redeeming, and trading shares of ETFs – including ETF issuers, authorised participants (APs), and ETF liquidity providers – proved their resilience, according to a new paper on the Covid-19 market crisis from the Investment Company Institute (ICI) entitled “Experiences of US Exchange-Traded Funds During the Covid-19 Crisis.”

By Beverly Chandler | 28/10/2020
ESG

Climate-linked factors top ETF investor demand, says Cerulli

Climate-linked factors top ETF investor demand, says Cerulli

European investors are prioritising climate-linked products in an ETF format, according to Cerulli Associates. Targeting portfolio holdings that focus on minimising carbon usage or being free from fossil fuels is set to be the most popular approach to incorporate ESG factors into ETFs, the firm says, with 86 per cent of the ETF issuers in Europe that responded to a survey believing it will be the case.

By Beverly Chandler | 27/10/2020