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

Vanguard
US-based investment manager Vanguard has launched the Vanguard USD High Yield Corporate Bond UCITS ETF, giving European investors low-cost, diversified access to the US dollar-denominated high yield bond market, expanding Vanguard’s fixed income UCITS ETF range. The exchange-traded fund (ETF) will be listed on the London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Börse, Borsa Italiana, Euronext Amsterdam and SIX Swiss.

The Vanguard USD High Yield Corporate Bond UCITS ETF tracks the Bloomberg US High Yield $250MM 2 per cent Issuer Capped Index, providing diversified access to US dollar-denominated corporate bonds rated below investment grade.

“The USD high yield market is the largest segment of the global high yield corporate bond market and an important building block in a comprehensive fixed income offering,” Claire Aley, head of Product and PRD Europe, said. “We are launching the Vanguard USD High Yield Corporate Bond UCITS ETF now to give investors low-cost, diversified access to an important source of income at a time when many are looking to enhance portfolio income, manage duration risk and broaden diversification.”

The launch builds on Vanguard’s expansion of its UCITS ETF range, following nine equity ETF launches in 2026. Alongside several fee reductions over the past 24 months, which have delivered estimated investor savings of more than $80 million, it reflects Vanguard’s aim to broaden its low-cost offering and lowering the cost of investing. Together, these developments are expanding Vanguard’s range of low-cost UCITS ETFs across global, regional and market-cap exposures, while making ETF investing more accessible through lower fees.

A number of firms have been continuing their expansion into exchange-traded funds (ETFs) such as Schroders, Pictet Asset Management, Invesco, Franklin Templeton. See more here and here.

T Rowe Price
T Rowe Price, a global asset management firm with $1.87 trillion in assets under management, has launched its first European-listed active ETFs. The expansion of its investment offering provides investors with a new way to access the firm’s active capabilities, the firm said in a statement.

The initial equity range comprises two strategies: 

-- T Rowe Price ETF ICAV – T Rowe Price Integrated Global Equity Index UCITS ETF – TIGP; and

-- T Rowe Price ETF ICAV – T Rowe Price Integrated US Equity Enhanced Index UCITS ETF – TUSP.

The Rowe Price’s entry into the European ETF market builds on the firm’s US ETF business. The T Rowe Price Integrated US Equity Enhanced Index UCITS ETF provides benchmark-aware US equity exposure, suitable for a core portfolio holding or a complement to existing passive positions. Meanwhile, the T Rowe Price Integrated Global Equity UCITS ETF is designed as a higher-conviction global active core strategy.

The new vehicles give investors more choice in accessing actively managed solutions, bringing T Rowe Price’s research-led investment capabilities to a flexible ETF structure, the firm continued. Both are structured as Irish-domiciled UCITS ETFs. They were registered on the Deutsche Börse/Xetra on 8 October, with registrations to follow on the London Stock Exchange on 15 October, followed by Borsa Italiana on 22 October 2026.

“European investors are increasingly looking for investment solutions that can help them make their core allocations work harder while remaining disciplined around risk and portfolio construction,” Nataline Terry, head of EMEA distribution, said. “The new ETFs are designed to play distinct portfolio roles that can complement or replace passive exposures, and fit within a range of portfolio structures, including model portfolios.”

“The investment opportunity for ETFs is significant and is accelerating. Across Europe, ETFs have moved from being a specialist allocation tool to a mainstream vehicle. This is why we are giving European investors a new way to access selected investment capabilities through active ETFs,” Andrew Brickman, who recently joined T Rowe Price in the newly created role as head of ETF solutions, EMEA, added.

Jupiter Asset Management
Jupiter Asset Management has launched the Jupiter Global Monthly Income Bond Fund in a wide spread of markets including the UK, Europe, US offshore and Latin America.

The new fund will be run by Hilary Blandy, who has managed a similar UK strategy, Jupiter Monthly Income Bond (MIB) since September 2020.

GMIB, invests in global corporate credit, mixing safer, higher quality investment grade bonds with riskier, high-yield credit. It keeps duration, or sensitivity to interest rates, moderate. The aim is to deliver an attractive and consistent income stream without big swings in value when markets are volatile.

Unlike some flexible bond funds, GMIB is measured against a specific custom benchmark, which mixes shorter-dated investment grade and high-yield bonds issued by companies in developed markets, the firm said in a statement. The benchmark serves as a long-term guide for how much credit risk the fund takes and its sensitivity to movements in interest rates.

However, the fund does not follow a benchmark approach for asset allocation. Instead, the fund manager, working with Jupiter’s wider credit research team, builds a portfolio of 100 to 150 carefully chosen issuers. The blended average credit rating of the fund will typically sit in investment grade territory, and foreign currency exposure is normally hedged back to the base currency, minimising the potential impact of currency swings on returns.

GMIB, a UCITS sub-fund of the Jupiter Global Fund SICAV is registered in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Finland, and Switzerland.