By Shane Coveney, Dillon Eustace – As European exchange traded products gather a greater share of asset flows and surpass USD1 trillion in assets under management, the industry’s appetite for new and innovative products continues to develop at a greater pace than ever. Historically, fragmentation in the European market has been a significant obstacle, leading to slow growth in the exchange traded fund (ETF) market in Europe.

New analysis from ETF provider GraniteShares, which offers a range of 3x short and 3x leveraged ETPs on popular UK and US stocks, reveals that so far this year, 31 dividend payments from FTSE 100 companies have been cancelled, 12 have been suspended and nine cut.

Komainu is to serve as the custodian for the digital assets held by CoinShres to physically back the XBT Provider family of ETPs.

When last writing about ETF trends in early 2016, we marveled at the torrid pace of growth but also observed a market that was maturing. That process quickly reached a key milestone, with every one of Morningstar’s categories now represented by at least one ETF. Though saturated with product, asset flows continue to gain momentum. We noted two years ago that the “groundwork is also being laid for another phase of rapid growth.” 

As part of a wide ranging 2020 industry trend outlook, a survey of US asset managers and asset owners conducted by State Street Corporation predicts continued prevalence of digital assets as well as a bigger role in the industry for semi-transparent active ETFs.

Foreside Financial Group (Foreside), a provider of regulatory and compliance service and technology offerings to clients in the global asset and wealth management industry, is to acquire US Bancorp’s mutual fund and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) distribution business, Quasar Distributors.

Independent research provider CFRA has acquired First Bridge Data (First Bridge), a source for global ETF data and analytics.

Virtu Financial and MarketAxess Holdings, two global specialists in electronic trading, have formed a partnership to provide institutions with enhanced trading tools and access to global exchange traded funds (ETFs) and fixed income securities. 

Amun AG, a Swiss fintech aiming to facilitate access to crypto-asset investments, has completed its first funding round, bringing on board a number of experienced industry figures including Adam Draper, Founder of Boost VC, Graham Tuckwell, Founder of ETFS Capital, Greg Kidd, Co-Founder Hard Yaka, as well as four family offices.

European institutions increased their allocations to ETFs by 50 per cent in 2018, according to the latest Greenwich Associates European ETF Study.