The latest news in investment offerings, financial products and other services relevant to wealth advisors and their clients.

M&G Investments
M&G Investments has launched the first in a new range of active exchange-traded funds (ETFs). It marks the beginning of a broader roll out designed to redefine how investors can access its active management investment capabilities. The launch is backed by an overall £350 million ($462 million) investment from M&G’s Life business on behalf of several underlying client funds and funds from the multi asset range within asset management.

M&G’s Active ETF range will use decades of expertise in active investment across fixed income, equities and private markets capabilities, underpinned by rigorous in-house research and a culture of innovation, the firm said in a statement. 

The initial suite of M&G’s Active ETFs will be managed by M&G's £137 billion fixed income business, with the launch of the M&G UK Index-Linked Gilts Active UCITS ETF, the M&G UK Gilts Active UCITS ETF and the M&G US Treasury Bond Active UCITS ETF – all of which will be managed by Miles Tym and Rob Burrows.

The M&G Global Maxima Equity UCITS ETF, which uses machine learning to analyse companies, is due to be launched soon. Part of M&G’s £88 billion equities business, it will be managed by Gautham Samarth and Michael Cook. Combining the benefits of active management with the typical structural efficiencies of an ETF wrapper, investors will benefit from greater accessibility and transparency, the firm added.

A number of firms have been launching ETFs recently, for instance US-headquartered investment managers Invesco and Franklin Templeton. See more here.

Invesco
US-based asset manager Invesco is expanding its range of equal weight exposures with the launch of the Invesco EURO STOXX 50 Equal Weight UCITS ETF. This latest ETF will be available in Europe providing access to the equal-weight version of Europe’s blue-chip equity index.  

The EURO STOXX 50 index represents the performance of the 50 largest companies among the 20 super-sectors in the eurozone. The EURO STOXX 50 Equal Weight index contains the same constituents as the standard version but weights each constituent equally rather than by size. The Invesco ETF will invest physically in all the securities and in the same proportion as the equal weight index, which is rebalanced quarterly, the firm said in a statement.

The ETF tickers refer to listings on Xetra. Accumulating shares are also available on Euronext Milan, the SIX Swiss Exchange and the London Stock Exchange.

The firm has a range of equal weight ETFs in Europe with targeted exposures to global, Europe and US equity benchmarks, with $3.1 billion of assets currently invested across this range of ETFs, and $1.9 billion of net inflows in the year to date.

“Interest in equal-weight strategies has been gathering pace after years of mega-cap outperformance led many investors to look for effective tools to help them reduce concentration risk,” Matthew Tagliani, head of EMEA ETF product at Invesco, said. “While some investors will use these ETFs tactically when the largest constituents of an index seem overvalued, others will employ them as core holdings to increase diversification and capture the long-term potential benefits of regular rebalancing.” 

Sarasin & Partners
Sarasin & Partners, a London-based thematic investment manager with assets of £17.4 billion ($23 billion) under management on behalf of charities, private clients and advisors, has launched a new Shariah investment service.

This new proposition will enable clients to align their financial objectives with their values through a disciplined, transparent and responsible approach to long-term investment, the firm said in a statement. The Shariah investment service will be offered as a multi-asset discretionary portfolio benefiting from the Sarasin & Partners global thematic investment philosophy.

Sarasin & Partners’ Shariah proposition combines the firm’s multi-asset investment process with Islamic finance principles, overseen by the Shariah Advisory Panel of Bank J Safra Sarasin. 

Shariah portfolios will exclude companies involved in non-permissible sectors such as gambling, alcohol, weapons and defence, tobacco, adult entertainment, pork-related industries, while also screening for excessive debt and interest-based income. This process is managed in combination with the well-established Sarasin & Partners responsible investment approach, ensuring that ESG factors are considered alongside the financial analysis of investments.