SPDR University, the ETF information arm of State Street Global Advisors, released a report on Wednesday entitled Election 2012: A Time of Polarizing Politics & Heightened Uncertainty, which outlined the best ETFs to hold depending on who you think will win. Written by David Mazza, State Street's head of ETF investment strategy, it's no surprise that all the recommended funds comes from SPDR.

In this low interest rate environment, high yielding equities have been a favorite among investors. Under a Mitt Romney win, Mazza expects favorable tax treatment for dividends to continue, thus companies that pay dividends would be big beneficiaries. Certain sectors and industries would also benefit under a Romney administration. Increased domestic production would help the energy sector, while less regulation would boost the metals and mining

By Daniela Pylypczak

After capping off one of the strongest first quarters in 14 years, major benchmarks have stalled their rally, as conflicting data from all around the world has put markets in a rut. As we head into the summer months, investors will hope overarching issues, like European debt, will cool off but all indications point to Spain being the next Greece, so don’t expect that to happen anytime soon. Though the month was relatively busy for the financial world, the ETF universe moved along at a steady but moderate pace, with the introduction of 19 new products. Below, we outline all of the new launches from the month to keep you up to date on all of the latest offerings available:

New ETFs

New exchange-traded products that began trading in April include:

• Van Eck launched its new Market Vectors International High Yield Bond ETF (IHY), which offers investors

Eighteen new ETFs and two ETNs came to market in April. The twenty new product introductions places the year-to-date launch count at 105, but the net increase is only 88 as a results of the 17 closures. The number of listed products was 1,457 at month-end, consisting of 1,243 ETFs and 214 ETNs.

Assets under management slipped 0.4% to just under $1.21 trillion. Trading activity fell off for the first time in three months as total dollar volume (value traded) came in at $1.22 trillion, down 8.7% from $1.34 trillion in March.

ETFs averaging more than $1 billion per day of trading decreased from eleven to just seven, accounting for 57.0% of all traded ETP value. ETPs averaging more than $100 million in dollar volume per day decreased from 72 to 63 while capturing 88.4% of trading activity. The quantity with more than $10 million of trading per day edged

By JT

State Street Global Advisors, arguably the most influential player in the ETF space, announced the launch of three new actively-managed exchange-traded funds. Before the announcement, State Street sponsored only passive portfolio products.

Actively-Managed SPDRs

The actively-managed products rolled out this week are more than your average plain-vanilla ETF. The products are unique, touching on inflation protection, income, and global allocation.

Here are the three funds as announced:

1. SPDR Global Allocation ETF (GAL) – The fund will look for immediate income and capital preservation before capital appreciation

The actively managed exchange traded fund space, once pushed to the side, is now attracting a greater following, especially in the wake of highly successful PIMCO Total Return ETF (BOND) launch. Now, State Street Global Advisors is testing the waters with its first active ETFs.

On Thursday, the fund provider launched the SPDR SSgA Multi-Asset Real Return ETF (RLY), SPDR SSgA Income Allocation ETF (INKM) and SPDR SSgA Global Allocation ETF (GAL).

These new actively managed ETFs will serve as fund-of-funds - these new offerings will hold a variety of ETFs from various fund providers. The active managers will evaluate the expected returns and risks of each underlying asset class, or ETF holdings. Accordingly, weightings of the individual ETF components will change, along with the manager's expectations.

"I can see active ETFs being a larger part of the ETF landscape," James Ross, senior managing director of State Street Global Advisors,

State Street, one of the largest ETF issuers by total assets, has thrown its hat into the active ETF ring with the launch of three multi-asset class products. The new ETFs, each of which will be structured as fund-of-funds, include:

• SPDR Multi-Asset Real Return ETF (RLY)
• SPDR Income Allocation ETF (INKM)
• SPDR Global Allocation ETF (GAL)

Under The Hood: RLY

RLY seeks to achieve “real return,” or a rate of return greater than the rate of inflation over a full market cycle [see Real Return ETFs]. In seeking to accomplish that objective, RLY will invest in other ETPs that cover four primary asset classes: TIPS, domestic and international real estate, commodities