Below extract courtesy of Wealth Manager Magazine

The Invesco subsidiary Powershares officially launched its European PowerShares Global Buyback Achievers Ucits on the London Stock Exchange on 28 October.

The ETF, which is the first of its kind to be available in Europe according to Morningstar, invests in companies which have bought back at least 5% of their own shares in the past twelve months.

It tracks the Nasdaq Global Buyback Achievers Net Total Return Index, comprising securities from the Nasdaq US Buyback Achievers Index, through full physical replication as well as the Nasdaq International Buyback Achievers Index.

Bryon Lake, head of Invesco Powershares said: ‘This new product offers an innovative yet simple factor-based way to invest in global equities. Through the underlying index, the PowerShares Global Buyback Achievers Ucits ETF provides access to a “smart beta” approach to investing in companies that return value by buying back shares.

He added: ‘Buybacks can be more tax efficient than dividends, and this new ETF offers a low-cost, transparent and liquid vehicle through which to access this strategy.’