UBS is offering pound sterling-hedged exposure to 'smart beta' strategies on the US and Eurozone equity markets.

UBS Asset Management has listed eight alternative beta – or "smart beta" – exchange-traded funds on the London Stock Exchange.

The firm highlighted the impact of currency fluctuations on investment returns, noting that from September 2010 to September 2015, a French or German investor in the MSCI European Monetary Union index would have seen an annual return of 6.38 per cent while an unhedged British sterling investor in that index would have seen annual returns of just 3.45 per cent.

“It is becoming increasingly evident that ‘alternative beta’ or ‘factor investing’ is a category that is growing in interest for clients and will increasingly be considered a core part of portfolios,” said Andrew Walsh, head of UBS ETF sales UK and Ireland. 

“With our experience and success in building and delivering currency-hedged solutions, expanding our suite of alternative beta ETFs to include embedded currency hedging was a logical next step. Our investors here in the UK will now be able to access specific targeted factor risk-premia in the US and eurozone equity markets whilst managing currency risk.”

All eight listed ETFs were developed jointly with index provider MSCI and are UCITS IV compliant. They are suitable for self-invested personal pension and individual savings accounts and have applied for UK reporting status.

UBS Asset Management has 15 years' experience in the field of ETFs, with over 35 years' experience in index investing. The firm recently listed 52 exchange-traded funds on the Amsterdam Euronext Stock Exchange.

This week, UBS reported fourth-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders of SFr949 million ($934 million), down from SFr2.068 billion in the prior quarter. Its wealth management business delivered a pre-tax operating profit of SFr2.689 billion in 2015, from SFr2.326 a year earlier.