Alternative Investments
The global alternative investment space now sits at more than $9 trillion in global assets, and we’re just getting started. Roughly 40% of RIAs are using alternative investments. With the RIA space expanding and alternative investment demand rising among investors – a surge in data, news, and opinion will continue. This channel cuts through the noise to give you the most important actionable insight.
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State Street (NYSE: STT), which has $40.3 trillion in assets under custody or administration, said Thursday it is establishing a new digital finance division called State Street Digital. The new unit will focus on digital financial services for crypto, tokenization, blockchain and CBDCs.
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More Stories on Alternative Investments
Alternative Investments/ESG: The First “Green Building” ETF From Invesco Will List Today
Invesco has launched a first-of-its-kind ETF focused on companies that have a “green” slant to their operations in the buildings sector – which accounts for a whopping 38% of global carbon emissions according to the UN Environment Program.
Alternative Investments: Disruptor-Focused, Hyper-Concentrated ETFs From Volt Equity
Volt Equity, the boutique investment firm based in Silicon Valley, has joined with Simplify Asset Management to launch a new class of ETFs that are highly concentrated in their exposure and come with an inbuilt options strategy. These ETFs allow investors to “bet big” on companies that are disruptors in their field, or are creating new industries, yet also offer a cushion against downsides. The target audience for these ETFs is Robinhood-era bull investors.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Its Raining Crypto ETF Approvals In Canada, But Fee Wars Erupt In Ether
Canadian regulators cleared three Ethereum ETFs last week. These were funds from Purpose Investments, CI Global Asset Management, and Evolve ETFs that are expected to commence trading today. Meanwhile, the fourth bitcoin ETF to be approved by Canada, the 3iQ CoinShares Bitcoin ETF, commenced trading on the TSX effective Monday. Unsurprisingly, the (surfeit?) of new ETFs has resulted in a chase for investors’ dollars, and fee cuts have been announced.
Alternative Investments/Digital: New Ethereum ETFs Launch In Canada
CI Global Asset Management announced Friday that its CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF had been cleared by the Canadian Securities regulators and that the ETF is likely to start trading on the TSX on April 20. On the same day, Purpose Investments Inc said it had received the regulator’s go-ahead for the Purpose Ether ETF which will invest in physical Ether tokens.
Alternative Investments/Digital: The First Inverse Bitcoin Fund From Horizons ETF Canada
Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc announced the launch of the BetaPro Inverse Bitcoin ETF (TSE: BITI) on the Toronto Stock Exchange effective Thursday. The ETF will allow investors to make bearish bets against bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency. It will provide up to 100% of the inverse daily performance of an index, the Horizons Bitcoin Front Month Rolling Futures Index.
Alternative Investments/Digital: CoinShares Launches XRP ETP On SIX Swiss Exchange
CoinShares, the largest digital asset manager in Europe, announced the launch of CoinShares Physical XRP (XRPL), its latest exchange-traded product (ETP). XRPL provides investors exposure to the XRP cryptocurrency and the native token unit of the Ripple network. Each unit of XRPL is physically backed at launch by 40.0 XRP.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Global X Launches AQWA – A Clean Water ETF
Global X has launched the Global X Clean Water ETF (NASDAQ: AQWA). The new ETF adds to Global X’s Thematic Growth family of 27 ETFs with AUM of more than $16 billion. Thematic Growth ETFs target companies across the globe driving long-term, paradigm-shifting themes.
Venture Capital: SoftBank Vision 2 Leads $676M Round In SambaNova Systems
SambaNova Systems, a startup that builds AI hardware and chips and offers a systems platform to run AI applications, announced today its Series D raise of $676 million in a round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The round valued SambaNova at more than $5 billion and the company’s aggregate funding to more than $1 billion.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Yet Another Bitcoin ETF Application; Galaxy Digital Is The Latest Hopeful
Galaxy Digital, the cryptocurrency investment firm led by Mike Novogratz, has filed an application with the SEC to launch a bitcoin ETF that will trade on the NYSE Arca. The preliminary prospectus states that “the trust provides direct exposure to bitcoin. The shares are valued on a daily basis based on data from bitcoin pricing sources.”
Alternative Investments/ESG: BlackRock’s New ESG ETF Rakes In A Record $1.25B On Launch
The BlackRock US Carbon Transition Readiness ETF (LCTU), which began trading on Thursday, won the crown for being the largest ETF launch ever, drawing investments of $1.25 billion from institutional investors. BlackRock also launched the BlackRock World ex U.S. Carbon Transition Readiness ETF (LCTD) alongside the US ETF. This ETF attracted $475 million in investments.
Alternative Investments/Digital: SEBA Bank Launches Four Crypto ETPs On SIX Swiss Exchange
SEBA Bank, a FINMA-licenced Swiss Bank, and GHCO, a liquidity provider and market maker specializing in exchange-traded funds, have partnered to launch a suite of crypto ETPs on the SIX Swiss Exchange from April 9, 2021.
Alternative Investments/Digital: CoinShares And 3iQ Join Hands For BTC ETF
Asset manager Coinshares is partnering with 3iQ for the launch of the 3iQ Coinshares Bitcoin ETF. The move follows a strategic investment by CoinShares in 3iQ. The ETF is expected to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange from early April under the symbols “BTCQ.U” (in US dollars) and “BTCQ” (in Canadian dollars). 3iQ will act as the investment and portfolio manager of the ETF.
Alternative Investments/Digital: North America’s First Bitcoin Mutual Fund From CI Global
CI Global Asset Management announced Monday the launch of the first mutual fund to offer exposure to bitcoin. The CI Bitcoin Fund requires a minimum investment of only $500 and charges a management fee of 0.40% – claimed to be an industry-low. With the launch of this product, CI Global earns the distinction of being the only firm across the globe to offer a bitcoin mutual fund as well as a bitcoin ETF.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Grayscale Trains Its Sights On Morphing GBTC Into An ETF
In a blog post today, Grayscale cleared the air on its intentions regarding a bitcoin ETF, given the increasing number of applications piling up with the SEC for permission to launch such a vehicle for the leading cryptocurrency.
Alternative Investments/ESG: New Hydrogen ETF From Direxion
As investors accord increasing importance to ESG and clean energy in their portfolios, hydrogen is now making its way onto the center-stage of fuels that are renewable, zero-emission, and a store of energy. The Direxion Hydrogen ETF (HJEN) will give investors exposure to companies powering the clean hydrogen economy.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management To Offer Cryptos
Mary Rich, the new incumbent leading digital assets for Goldman Sachs’ private wealth management division, said the investment bank will begin offering investments in bitcoin and other digital assets as early as the second quarter of this year.
Alternative Investments/ESG: BlackRock Adds Two ESG Fixed Income ETFs
BlackRock has launched two new ETFs as an extension of its sustainability-focused fixed income ETFs range. The iShares € Green Bond Ucits ETF offers exposure to investment-grade green bonds, while the iShares Global Govt Bond Climate Ucits ETF offers investors exposure to government bonds while incorporating climate risk.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Fidelity Launches ETFs For Sustainable Corporate Bonds
Fidelity International has launched its first fixed income ETFs, and the two new funds come with the added benefit of a sustainable skew. The Fidelity Sustainable Global Corporate Bond Multifactor and Fidelity Sustainable USD EM Bond UCITS ETFs offer a “systematic active strategy” to investors while utilizing the firm’s proprietary analyst research.
Alternative Investments/Digital: New, Bullish Outlooks For Bitcoin
Speaking on a Bloomberg interview, Soros Management Fund Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Dawn Fitzpatrick took a bullish stance on bitcoin and infrastructure surrounding cryptocurrencies such as exchanges, custody agents, even tax reporting. She revealed that the fund had invested in the latter. Regarding bitcoin, she said it was positioned at an inflection point.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Goldman Sachs Offers Proxy Exposure To Cryptos Via “ETF-Linked” Notes
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) plans to offer notes linked to the performance of the ARK Innovation ETF, an actively managed fund by Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management. The $ 15.7 million Auto-callable Contingent Coupon ETF-linked notes are due 2026.
Alternative Investments/ESG: A New Large Cap Equity ESG ETF From Stance Capital
Stance Capital announced last week the launch of its Stance Equity ESG Large Cap Core ETF (NYSE: STNC). Stance previously offered ESG exposure via an active, semi-concentrated strategy, with a proprietary machine learning model and risk optimization overlay in separately-managed-accounts (SMA) for institutions and high net worth individuals, and through model delivery across a range of platforms.
Alternative Investments/ESG: UBS Launches New “Climate Aware” ETF
The UBS Climate Aware Global Developed Equity CTB UCITS ETF provides investors with access to large- and mid-cap global stocks that have a strong climate-positive profile, are compliant with UBS’ Climate Aware framework, and tilt towards the global transition to a low carbon economy.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Grayscale Expands Product Lineup; Launches Five New Crypto Investment Trusts
Grayscale Investments launched on Wednesday five new digital currency investment trusts to address the growing global demand for digital currency products. The new trusts are named the Grayscale Basic Attention Token Trust, Grayscale Chainlink Trust, Grayscale Decentraland Trust, Grayscale Filecoin Trust, and the Grayscale Livepeer Trust. These trusts are now open for daily subscription eligible individual and institutional accredited investors.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Valkyrie Moots An ETF That Invests In Corporate Bitcoin Players
Adding to the SEC’s growing pile of applications from asset managers to launch a bitcoin ETF is a new one from Valkyrie Digital Assets, but this one comes with a twist. The firm has filed for an ETF to be launched with the name “Valkyrie Innovative Balance Sheet ETF.”