ETF Securities Limited announced on November 13, 2017 that it will sell its European exchange-traded commodity, currency, and short-and-leveraged business to Wisdom Tree Investment, Inc. for approximately US$611 million. In more detail the business being sold comprises all the European operations (including staff members), excluding GO UCITS ETF Solutions—the ETF platform of ETF Securities. Even though the deal constitutes a definitive agreement, it is still subject to regulatory approval; both parties aim to close the transaction in first quarter 2018. The agreed terms for the deal contain US$253 million in cash and 30 million Wisdom Tree shares. The cash for the transaction is

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invest based on factor strategies have become very popular in Europe over the last three years. Investing with a factor strategy means these funds do not follow a market capitalization-weighted index. Since “factor-based strategy” is a technical term that sounds rather complex, marketing departments and media companies have named these products “smart beta ETFs,” since the factors and strategies used generate better risk-adjusted returns over time than do market capitalization-weighted indices. The main factors used in these strategies are: Low volatility/minimum variance Momentum Size Quality Value These factors have either a regional or global investment focus.

For most market observers there is no doubt that the European exchange-traded fund (ETF) industry is a high-growth industry, since it is still enjoying—even after 15 years of existence—a double-digit growth rate. The assets under management (AUM) have grown since the first ETF promoter in 2001 from zero to 483.79 billion euros (as of October 31, 2016). Even though the market for ETFs in Europe—with 2,094 products issued by 48 ETF promoters—looks quite efficient and accessible for new promoters, one needs to look at this in more detail to see if that assumption is true. As of October 31, 2016, there