China and Brazil exchange-traded funds are reaching critical mass, driven by increasing investor sophistication. Muriel Oatham finds that emerging markets have become a bigger part of people's portfolios in recent years, but Bric funds may provide limited diversification benefits.
Regulatory scrutiny has put the focus on stock lending. Funds Europe asked a range of exchange-traded fund providers for reaction to this issue and others raised by the European Securities and Markets Authority.
The number of fixed income exchange-traded funds has grown, helped by investors seeking lower risk investments and diversification away from active funds. Muriel Oatham asks whether products are really new and innovative if providers are using ideas from America.
European ETFs are regaining momentum though more investor focus on administration is likely, says Liam Butler, of Northern Trust.
The growth of exchange-traded funds has been steady for the past three years. But according to our panel, new products are being launched with a closer eye on risk and perfomance components. Chaired by Nick Fitzpatrick.
Amundi Group has brought innovation to the ETF world without breaking the golden rules of transparency and liquidity, says Valerie Baudson.
In the last few years smart indexing has grown in popularity with fund managers. Barney Hatt looks at what the concept means, what providers are doing with it and what use investors can make of it.
Investors who have been disappointed by recent performance of market-cap weighted indices are increasingly turning to alternative or 'smart' beta, says Francois Millet, managing director and head of index development at Lyxor.
Noël Amenc of the Edhec-Risk Institute examines risk in smart beta indices and argues that not enough information is made available for investors to assess products.
Nicholas Pratt looks at the role asset services can play to help struggling exchange-traded funds reach sufficient liquidity.
