Blackrock has launched a green bond index fund to respond to growing demand from investors. The Green Bond Index Fund will offer exposure to a selection of fixed-income securities  issued to fund projects with direct environmental benefits. The fund will be optimised to deliver investment performance that reflects the total return of the Bloomberg Barclays MSCI Global Green Bond Index.

The fund is managed by Ashley Schulten and Darren Wills, who are supported by the company's global fixed-income team. Blackrock manages over US$1.57 trn (Blackrock data, as at December 31, 2016) in fixed-income assets on behalf of global clients, including active and index strategies. 'We see a strong interest in green bonds from clients as they seek to participate in climate friendly and environmentally beneficial investments without making major changes to sector allocation or liquidity risk in their holdings,' said Ashley Schulten, head of climate solutions (fixed income) and co-manager of the fund, in a statement. 'Clients interested vary from large institutional clients to family offices and retail investors.'

Blackrock has also launched four new exchange-traded funds (ETFs), providing targeted exposure to S&P 500 companies in the consumer staples, industrials, materials and utilities sectors. These launches bring the number of US sector funds to nine, adding to five existing exposures to consumer discretionary, energy, financials, healthcare and information technology sectors.

Sectors follow different cyclical patterns. This means that not all parts of the economy perform well at the same time and may go in and out of favour at separate points in the economic cycle. US equity ETFs have attracted $70.5bn of inflows since the start of the year, of which $13.3bn has gone into US sector-specific ETFs.

The iShares S&P 500 Consumer Staples Ucits ETF, iShares S&P 500 Industrials Ucits ETF, iShares S&P 500 Materials Ucits ETF, and iShares S&P 500 Utilities Ucits ETF are physically-replicating, meaning the funds hold the underlying securities of the index.  Each fund has a total expense ratio of 0.15%.

Global asset manager Vaneck is the latest institutional investor to join the Climate Bonds Initiative Partnership Program to support the development of green finance markets. As of February 28, 2017, Vaneck managed approximately $43.4bn in assets, including one of the largest exchange-traded product families in the world. Earlier this month, VanEck launched the Vaneck Vectors Green Bond ETF, the first US listed exchange traded fund that provides access to the fast-growing global green bond market. 'An important characteristic of the fund is that it invests in bonds flagged as 'green' by the Climate Bonds Initiative,' said Edward Lopez, head of ETF product management and marketing at Vaneck, in a statement.

Assets invested in active ETFs/ETPs listed globally reached a new record high of $47.49bn at the end of February, passing the prior record of $46bn set at the end of January 2017, according to ETFGI. Assets under management reached record levels at the end of February 2017, with active ETFs/ETPs listed globally at $47.49bn, in the US at $32.14bn, in Europe at $6.53bn, in Canada at $6.53bn and in Asia Pacific ex Japan at $2.18bn, according to ETFGI.

At the end of February, there were 317 global active ETFs, with 412 listings, assets of $47bn, from 60 providers listed on 16 exchanges in 12 countries. By February, active ETFs/ETPs gathered net inflows of $1.85bn and $3.33bn this year. Active ETF/ETP assets have increased by 9.3% this year, from $43.4bn to $47.4bn.

First Trust gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows in February with $431m, followed by Lyxor AM with $297m and Pimco with $262m net inflows.

ETFGI also reported assets invested in smart beta equity ETFs/ETPs listed globally reached a new high of $559.78bn at the end of February, surpassing the prior record of $534bn. Record levels of assets were reached at the end of February for equity smart beta ETFs/ETPs listed globally with $559.78bn, in the US with $499.03bn, in Europe with $39.03bn, in Canada with $13.38bn and in Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) with $5.20bn.

In February 2017, smart beta equity ETFs/ETPs gathered net inflows of $8.82bn a record level of flows for February, while year to date there were net inflows of $19.54bn. Year to date through end of February 2017, smart beta equity ETF/ETP assets have increased by 32.8% from $422bn to $560bn, with a 5-year CAGR of 30.6%. At the end of February 2017, there were 1,212 smart beta equity ETFs/ETPs, with 2,059 listings, assets of $560bn, from 151 providers listed on 38 exchanges in 32 countries. IShares gathered the largest 'smart beta' ETF/ETP net inflows in February, with $2.45bn, followed by Vanguard, with $2.25bn, and Charles Schwab Investment Management, with $788m net inflows.

Meanwhile, NYSE Arca reported that, in the final quarter for 2016, it was the fastest growing exchange. NYSE Arca continues to lead among US exchanges for ETF trading and volume, and is the largest source of ETF liquidity, with 37 issuers listed 113 new ETFs on NYSE Arca, bringing the total to 1,510 ETFs.

The exchange finished the year with 77% of US ETF listings and 92% of US ETF AUM. The exchange's market share in 2016 was 22.6%, maintaining its position as the largest exchange for ETF trading volume. Over $270bn of US ETF flows went into ETFs listed on NYSE Arca.

Barclays Africa has announced plans to list its NewGold ETF on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE). The ETF has its primary listing in Johannesburg, with secondary listings in Nigeria, Ghana, Mauritius, Botswana and Namibia. It works by listing bullion debentures that are each equivalent to 0.01 ounces of gold which are then bought and sold as regular shares. The regulatory bodies have approved 400,000 such debentures to be listed.

The announcement comes shortly after Barclays Bank of Kenya launched its brokerage in October 2016, Barclays Financial Services Limited, a wholly-owned bank subsidiary with access to the bank's trading desks in nine other African countries. The ETF fits the objective of what Kenyan markets seek to achieve, 'which is to boost liquidity and deepen the market', according to Michael Mgwaba, head of exchange traded products at Barclays Africa-owned Absa Capital.