Global ETF launches for 1st to 8th September

Despite the long weekend in the US slowing things up a little in the ETF world, European ETF launches were back with a vengeance this week.

We reported in June that AXA IM was planning to enter the European ETF market and this week brought details of the firm’s first two ETFs which will focus on climate and biodiversity themes, the firm says. Ossiam also brought ESG to the table with the launch of a range of eight ETFs on Bloomberg Paris-Aligned Benchmarks (PABs) covering all major developed equity investment markets.

Fidelity added to its ETF offering this week with the launch of its Fidelity Thematic ETF range, initially consisting of five new Irish-domiciled ETF products. And Global X ETFs brought us its disruptive materials ETF.

The metaverse has loomed large this week with three new launches of metaverse ETFs, one from Fidelity in that Thematic Range, one from Franklin Templeton and the other from LGIM. LGIM writes that the metaverse describes the next frontier of the internet – a virtual reality enabled digital world in which people can work, travel, play and live. The growth potential is significant, the firm says, with Meta Platforms alone spending more than USD10 billion on metaverse R&D last year.

Coming from a slightly different universe, we also had news this week of the US launch of an ETF from Seoul-based CT Investments, a subsidiary of Contents Technologies, focusing on the K-pop phenomenon – the KPOP and Korean Entertainment ETF is designed to give investors the ability to access Korea Exchange-listed companies in the entertainment and interactive media industries that have exposure to the potential growth in K-pop and the broader Korean content industry.

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