Tag Archives: international etfs

ETF Investors Look For Success Outside The US

MarketsMuse blog update is courtesy of CNBC’s Jeff Cox. As we have seen so far this year, ETFs have been becoming increasingly popular among all investors. MarketsMuse blog update profiles the biggest trends in ETF investing, including investing in international currencies. An excerpt from CNBC’s Jeff Cox’s article, “Hottest ETFs are currency hedges, non-US funds” is below. 

Exchange-traded funds have surged in popularity in 2015, but it’s not U.S. equities that are leading the charge.

Investors poured $97.2 billion into various ETFs and other similar products in the first quarter, marking the $2.9 trillion industry’s biggest start ever despite a wobbly U.S. stock market and a testy geopolitical climate, according to data from BlackRock, the world’s largest provider of such funds. (U.S.-based ETFs have about $2.1 trillion in assets.)

There essentially have been three major investment themes this year, and players in the exchange-traded market have made each work: A quest for investment themes outside the U.S.; the offshoot of that, which has seen domestic attention turn away from large caps and toward mid- and small-sized companies, and capitalizing on the big moves in currency markets, particularly an appreciation of the U.S. dollar and the decline of its global competitors. The greenback has gained 7 percent so far against a trade-weighted basket of other leading currencies.

Some $59 billion has found its way into products that focus on currency hedging, according to ETF.com, which said the group represented four or the top 10 funds for investor flows during the first three months of the year.

To read the rest of the article on ETF investment trends from CNBC, click here.

International ETF Launches Lead Growth of Exchange-Traded Funds; A Chinese Menu

etfcomlogoBelow courtesy of extract from today’s ETF.com and their reporter Heather Bell.

Year-to-date through the end of July saw 118 fund launches versus 86 during the same time period last year. However, what’s notable about the increase in launches is the fact that it is driven almost entirely by international equity ETF. In the first seven months of 2014, 55 ETFs targeting that space made their debut versus a mere 25 international equity funds in the first seven months of last year. Among this year’s launches, there are some very clear themes in international equities.

At least 18 of those international equity ETFs could be considered smart-beta or factor-based funds, ranging from the Market Vectors International Quality ETF (QXUS) to the iShares MSCI Europe Minimum Volatility ETF (EUMV) to the JPMorgan Diversified Return Global Equity ETF (JPGE).

Currency Hedging In Vogue Continue reading

Euronext to Launch Multi-Currency ETF Trading

etf-strategy-header-940-92Euronext, a wholly owned subsidiary of IntercontinentalExchange Group, has announced the launch of a multi-currency trading service for exchange-traded funds (ETFs), including for the first time on a US or European exchange, the Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY) and the Hong Kong Dollar (HKD).

Euronext launches multi-currency trading service for ETFs

The new service will allow international investors to trade any Euronext-listed ETFs in 20 different currencies.

The new service will allow international investors to trade any Euronext-listed ETFs in 20 different currencies.

Euronext plans to make it available from Monday 17th February 2014, subject to the approval of relevant clearing authorities.

By offering investors the possibility of buying an ETF in multiple currencies, Euronext is simplifying access to the international markets, reducing currency exchange risk and foreign exchange costs, and providing investors broader investment opportunities.

The service allows for easier asset gathering for issuers as their exposure to a deeper pool of global investors is increased. They will also no longer need to create a separate fund with a different ISIN code to list in another currency.  FOR THE FULL STORY COURTESY OF ETF STRATEGY, PLEASE CLICK HERE