New product launches

Lukas Smart, Head of US iShares Sustainable and Factors Product Segments, and Arun Singhal, Global Head of Index Product Management at STOXX, discuss the recent update to BlackRock’s multi-factor offering and the outlook for factor investing.

We caught up with Zubin Ramdarshan, Head of Equity & Index Product Design at Eurex, and Yang Wang, Head of Thematic Index R&D at Qontigo, to learn more about the first-ever listing of thematics derivatives at the Frankfurt-based exchange.

The new fund was listed on Sept. 7 and replicates the iSTOXX® Access Metaverse, an index tailored around a custom methodology aimed at tracking the key beneficiaries of a nascent theme in our modern world.

The funds track yen-hedged versions of the two European flagship benchmarks and come amid increasing Japanese demand for foreign assets.

The Australia-listed iShares Future Tech Innovators ETF seeks exposure to companies driving the technological innovation that’s disrupting our modern world, by investing in six thematic ETFs. Target investments include the themes of automation & robotics, breakthrough healthcare and digitalization.

A new white paper from Qontigo analyzes the components of a multi-factor alpha forecast in a universe of US stocks. The alpha has enhanced market returns over the last 20 years, with 2021 showing the best annual results.

We examine the composition and profile of the STOXX Global Digital Entertainment and Education Index, a thematic index that underlies a new iShares ETF, for investors interested in understanding the portfolio’s composition and drivers of returns.

The new fund tracks the STOXX Global Digital Entertainment and Education Index, one of the latest additions to the STOXX Thematic indices suite and to a growing partnership in innovative thematic solutions between Qontigo and BlackRock.

At the recent Qontigo Investment Intelligence Summit, WTW’s climate experts discussed how investors can better grasp a company’s climate-transition risk by looking forward to the future impact on its cash flows, rather than backwards at its carbon footprint.

Eurex has listed futures on three STOXX thematic indices that have a technology focus: breakthrough healthcare, digitalization and digital security. The centrally cleared derivatives complement a growing thematics ecosystem that includes ETFs, helping investors better manage portfolios.

The family of ETPs has proved popular with investors and traders as an efficient way to implement leveraged and short strategies on widely traded stocks. The listed securities cover the shares of more than 50 companies and showcase the versatility of index-based investing.

The iSTOXX® Global Climate Change ESG NR Decrement 4.5% offers exposure to a portfolio on a decarbonization pathway and is compliant with the European Union Climate Benchmarks regulation.