Bitcoin’s planned entry into French pension plans – following a partnership between VanEck and Inter Invest – has seen cryptocurrencies continue their progress towards becoming a mainstream asset class.
The $407m Vaneck Bitcoin ETN (VBTC) will be made available to French Pension Savings Plan (PER) investors.
Jean-Baptiste de Pascal, deputy CEO of Inter Invest said the inclusion of VanEck’s bitcoin ETN in the pension plan is in response to growing market demand.
VBTC is fully collateralised and physically replicates the MarketVector Bitcoin VWAP Close index.
The move follows the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) greenlighting professional investor access to crypto ETNs in March.
Invesco and BlackRock shut ETFs
Invesco and BlackRock closed three ETFs between them this week, including the Invesco MSCI EMU ESG Universal Screened UCITS ETF (EEMU) alongside the iShares J.P. Morgan € EM Bond UCITS ETF (EB3M) and the iShares FTSE Italia Mid-Small Cap UCITS ETF (IPIR).
While Invesco said the closure was due to the ETF failing to gather sufficient assets under management (AUM), while BlackRock said that fund closures were part of the “natural cycle of industry innovation”.
ETF closures saw a spike last year, with some 203 ETFs closing, the highest amount since 2020.
Closures briefly paused in Q1 of this year, before HSBC resumed the trend in April, closing four emerging market ETFs including the $36.5m HSBC MSCI EM Latin America UCITS ETF (HMLA).
Industry reshuffles continues
The ETF industry has seen a consistent reshuffle of industry personnel over summer, with this week seeing Invesco promote Tom Banks to head of UK ETFs, alongside promoting Joe Bello to head of ETF institutional and asset managers.
Elsewhere, 21Shares’ global head of distribution Isabell Moessler is set to depart the cryptocurrency ETP issuer at the end of 2024 after joining the firm in 2021.
