Exchange-traded funds have reached another milestone, overtaking the hedge fund universe in terms of assets under management (AUM), reports ETFGI, a specialist research and consultancy firm focused on ETPs. According to ETFGI, the total AUM of the over 5,800 globally listed ETFs reached $2.971tn at the end of June. A similar report into the global reach of hedge funds, released by Hedge Fund Research Inc in Chicago, revealed total AUM of $2.969tn.

The iBillionaire ETF has gone live on the NYSE Arca in what is perhaps the most eagerly anticipated exchange-traded fund launch of the year so far. Launched in partnership with Direxion Investments, the Direxion iBillionaire Index ETF (IBLN) enables ordinary, everyday investors to invest alongside some of the United States’ best known billionaire investors. The ETF is linked to the iBillionaire Index, an index which tracks the top stock picks of Wall Street titans such as Warren Buffett, George Soros, Carl Icahn, John Paulson, Ray Dalio, David Tepper, Edward Lampert and David Einhorn.

AdvisorShares, a sponsor of actively managed exchange-traded funds, has launched a new ETF in partnership with Sunrise Capital. Listed on Nasdaq, the AdvisorShares Sunrise Multi-Strategy ETF (MULT) seeks to provide long-term total returns by tactically investing both long and short through a variety of asset classes using ETFs, futures, foreign currencies and US Treasuries. Chris Stanton, CIO of Sunrise Capital, said: “We feel investors and financial advisors seeking diversification for their portfolios could discover MULT to be a compelling offering due to its disciplined investment strategy and actively managed ETF structure.”

Purpose Investments, a Toronto-based exchange-traded fund sponsor, has launched three new ETFs on the Toronto Stock Exchange: the Purpose Best Ideas Fund (PBI), the Purpose Duration Hedged Real Estate Fund (PHR), and the non-currency hedged Purpose Tactical Hedged Equity Fund (PHE.B). Som Seif, President and CEO of Purpose Investments, said: “These new funds feature innovative approaches to equity investing, including the ability to mirror the high conviction picks of an elite group of investment managers and to invest in real estate securities while guarding against rising interest rates.”

Invesco PowerShares is set to unveil the PowerShares Multi-Strategy Alternative Portfolio (LALT), an actively managed multi-strategy alternatives ETF in partnership with Morgan Stanley. Dan Draper, Invesco PowerShares Managing Director of Global ETFs, said: “One of the primary goals for investors that use alternative strategies is to minimize exposure to equity and bond markets, and to achieve better risk-adjusted returns compared to portfolios consisting only of traditional asset classes. LALT is an actively managed long-short strategy that seeks to provide efficient exposure to a broad mix of alternative-asset classes.”

Global X Funds, a New York-based provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with more than $3 billion in managed assets, has unveiled two new “Guru”-themed ETFs, which seek to participate in the ideas of some of the world’s most sophisticated investors. Listed on the NYSE Arca, the Global X Guru Small Cap Index ETF (GURX) and Global X Guru International Index ETF (GURI) exploit 13F filings to tap into the highest conviction ideas of a select group of hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global X Funds, a New York-based provider of exchange-traded funds, has announced the listing of three ETFs on Bolsa de Valores de Colombia, the Colombian stock exchange. This marks the first time that a foreign ETF has been listed on the Colombian exchange. The three ETFs are the Global X FTSE Colombia 20 ETF (GXG), the Global X Guru Index ETF (GURU), and the Global X SuperDividend ETF (SDIV).

Horizons USA has announced the launch of the Horizons S&P Financial Select Sector Covered Call ETF (HFIN) on the NYSE Arca. The ETF uses an innovative covered call strategy designed to generate additional income from the constituents of the S&P Financial Select Sector Index. Howard Atkinson, Managing Director of Horizons USA, said: “A covered call strategy can keep you invested in equities and potentially lower the volatility of returns of those equities while attempting to generate additional income, which can mitigate losses, during certain market conditions.”

Nasdaq OMX Group and Newfound Research have introduced the Nasdaq Newfound Index Family, a suite of rules-based, quantitatively oriented strategy indices comprising exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Corey Hoffstein, Chief Investment Officer of Newfound, said: “Newfound has been recognized as a premier provider of ETF managed portfolios to its distribution partners. Nasdaq OMX is recognized throughout the world as an innovative, market-leading index provider with an extensive network of partnerships. By combining our strengths, asset managers around the world will gain access to these custom investment strategies.”

IndexIQ’s leading hedge fund-style exchange-traded fund, the IQ Hedge Multi-Strategy Tracker ETF (QAI), has topped $500 million in assets, with assets up 50 percent year to date. Listed on the NYSE Arca, the fund seeks to track the performance of the IQ Hedge Multi-Strategy Index, a proprietary index that attempts to replicate the risk-adjusted return characteristics of hedge funds using various hedge fund investment styles.