WisdomTree’s, Head of Japan, Jesper Koll has written a note on Trump’s America and Abe’s Japan. He writes: “Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is poised to be the first global leader to present President Trump with a concrete policy proposal that is designed to shape and promote Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda and, at the same time, to advance the US-Japan alliance.”

The Australian ETF industry broke records in both funds under management and trading activity in 2016, despite the high levels of market volatility and uncertainty in the broader macro environment, according to the BetaShares Australian ETF Review – End of Year Review 2016.

The Chinese fund manager GF Fund Management has launched through its European division, GF International Asset Management (UK), its first fund product, the GF International-FTSE China A UCITS ETF.

Japanese equities could rise as much 20 per cent over 2017 says Jesper Koll, Head of Japan for WisdomTree. He writes that Japanese risk assets – equities and real estate – remain on track for a multi-year structural bull market.

The November BetaShares Australian ETF Review reports that the Australian ETF fund industry reached a new record of AUD24.6 billion in funds under management in November, as investors traded heavily in response to the US election.

Jesper Koll, head of Japan for WisdomTree has commented on the resurgence of Japan Equities, saying that they have been made great again by the Trump victory.

Index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) launched the S&P New China Sectors Index on April 13, 2016 and that index has now been licensed to CSOP Asset Management for ETFs.

The beginning of the month saw the Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) list new futures and options contracts on one underlying ETF linked to China’s stock market – the Capital SZSE SME Price Index ETF.

Although some responsible investment regulation is useful in terms of increasing awareness of ESG, investors are still sceptical about whether or not this regulation is driving real change, a report by the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) has found.

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has launched a three-month consultation on proposals to enhance the regulation of the asset management industry to better protect investors’ interests and ensure market integrity.