Scientific Beta

ETF.com: "ETF Securities expanded its budding lineup of equity-based ETFs last week with the launch of two more smart-beta ETFs on Jan. 28. (...) The two new funds use a complex multifactor approach rather than an approach based primarily on earnings; they also track indexes from the Scientific Beta arm of the EDHEC Risk Institute rather than Zacks Research, and cover the U.S. and European markets."

ETF.com 03/02/2015

"(...) ETF Securities expanded its budding lineup of equity-based ETFs last week with the launch of two more smart-beta ETFs on Jan. 28. (...) The two new funds use a complex multifactor approach rather than an approach based primarily on earnings; they also track indexes from the Scientific Beta arm of the EDHEC Risk Institute rather than Zacks Research, and cover the U.S. and European markets. The ETFS Diversified-Factor U.S. Large Cap Index Fund (SBUS) and ETFS Diversified Factor Developed Europe Index Fund (SBEU) are both tied to benchmarks comprising four different equally weighted factor indexes targeting high valuation, high momentum, low volatility and size, respectively, the prospectus said. (...) It’s safe to say there probably isn’t another smart-beta index methodology that matches the Scientific Beta diversified-factor approach in terms of complexity. ETF Securities noted in a press release that the index provider’s goal is to construct smart-beta approaches that reduce exposure to “non-performing market factors” and increase diversification, two of the main problems it sees in traditional, cap-weighted indexes. (...)"