ETFs

Fidelity Investments has filed with the SEC to offer a broad range of domestic and international equity and fixed-income exchange-traded funds – putting to rest longtime speculations as to when, not if, Fidelity would enter the ETF market.

ProShares has created a new post, head of capital markets and named Stephen Sachs to the position.

Assets of the nation’s exchange-traded funds rose 10.9% in October to slightly more than $1 trillion, according to the Investment Company Institute’s latest report on ETFs. That’s up $131.4 billion, or 14.2%, from a year ago.

Investors seeking diversity, liquidity and competitive yields when compared to other fixed-income products are trying a relatively new alternative: municipal bond exchange-traded funds.

And you thought the U.S. stocks were out of favor. Then came October. While $20.4 billion got pulled out of mutual funds that invest long-term in U.S. stocks, money was flooding into exchange-traded funds that invested in U.S. stocks.

The operator of an all-electronic options exchange and licenser of financial indexes said it was beginning to fund the creation of exchange-traded funds by other parties.

Global X Funds has launched the Global X Social Media Index ETF (SOCL), which it says is the first ETF that will globally focus on social media companies. The fund will cover companies that provide social networking, file sharing and other web-based media applications.

Investors may be fleeing from mutual funds that invest in U.S. stocks for the long haul. But that does not mean they’re fleeing U.S. stock funds.

Eileen Rominger, director of the SEC's division of investment management, testified last month before the U.S. Senate that the commission is reviewing whether the widespread use of exchange-traded funds is contributing to market volatility.

Russell Investments has launched three international equity “factor” exchange-traded funds designed to provide investors with focused exposure to fundamental risk factors -- namely low beta, low volatility and high momentum. The funds complement Russell’s existing 10 domestic factor ETFs.

IndexIQ has expanded its IQ series of 16 funds with the IQ Global Alternatives ETF Model Portfolio. The investment vehicle uses liquid, transparent, low-cost alternative exchange-traded funds to achieve diversification, growth of capital and low volatility.

Highland Funds Asset Management has launched the Highland Alpha Trend Strategies Fund, a global fund that will invest in country- and region-specific exchange-traded funds as well as take long and short positions in equity indexes. The fund aims to invest in areas with low correlation and volatility.

In September, more money flowed into mutual funds than flowed out, breaking a three-month pattern of fund outflows, according to Cerulli Associates’ October report on product trends. Despite the reversal into positive territory, however, mutual fund assets remain at a yearly low of $7.4 trillion.

BNY Mellon Asset Servicing will allow authorized participants in exchange-traded fund transactions to place orders one day ahead of the actual trade date.

State Street Global Advisors, the asset management business of State Street Corporation, has announced changes to the indices and names of five financial industry SPDR ETFs.

Following periods of market turbulence, investors always look for transparency and liquidity, which will inevitably attract more assets to the $1.2 trillion exchange-traded fund industry, speakers at the Money Management Institute Fall Solutions 2011 conference said Wednesday.

The SEC said it will review the ETF market to ensure it is “transparent” and not generating market volatility. The decision, announced at a Senate Banking subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, marks the second time the regulator has investigated investment companies.

Van Eck Global has launched the Market Vectors Renminbi Bond ETF, a exchange-traded fund that offers exposure to Chinese renminbi-denominated bonds through the Market Vectors Renminbi Bond Index.

ProShares has launched the ProShares Ultra DJ-UBS Natural Gas and ProShares UltraShort DJ-UBS Natural Gas exchange-traded funds. The two funds are tied to the Dow Jones-UBS Natural Gas Subindex.

Russell Investments has launched four additional investment discipline exchange traded funds, the new offerings focused on small-cap indexes. Russell’s investment discipline indexes take indexing to the next level by aiming to mirror the way equity managers invest.