January ETP launch review

Factor based ETFs mark a new trend in weighting methodology

This report aggregatesnewlylaunchedfunds in January and highlights the performance of the fundslaunched in December.

• 34 funds were launched by 14 different providers in January
• 13 funds were launched in the Americas, 12 added in Europe and nine launched in the APAC region
• 28 equity funds were added along with six fixed income ETFs

January new listings

The beginning of the year saw ETF launches pick up again after an end of 2014 slump. There were 34 funds launched by 14 different providers in January. BlackRock led the way with seven new ETFs while Direxion Funds, Daiwa Asset Management and ETF Securities Limited all added four each.

While the majority of ETFs launched in January geographically focused on the United States, there were also 11 ETFs with investment exposure in European markets as well as five focused on Japan.

Most of the newly added funds follow similar trends of investing in large to mid-cap equities although a few funds were added that focused on High vs Low Beta characteristics.

An interesting trend in the ETFs launched in January was a focus on alternative weighting methodologies. Several issuers have launched funds that use methods other than market cap weighting techniques to select the weights of the constituents.

December flows

Funds launched in December have gained $205m since their inception. Considering that December saw the fewest fund launches of 2014, this relatively low figure is not surprising.

Funds launched in the US gained $196m of the asset flows since their December inception. The largest growth was seen by iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF (CRBN), with $71m in inflows. This fund invests in global large and mid-cap equities in both developed and emerging markets with a lower carbon exposure than that of the broad market. Its largest sector is in Financials, with 23.04% of its AUM.

APAC funds launched in December saw $9m in asset flows since their inception. Korea's Tiger High Dividend ETF (210780) has done very well since its inception, gaining $24m in assets. The performance was offset by Japan's iShares JPX Nikkei 400 ETF (1364) which had outflows totalling $19m since inception.

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This article was published by S&P Global Market Intelligence and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.