• Page 1: New ETF listings and new ETFs in registration
• Page 2: ETF industry statistics – with new top and bottom performer statistics.
• Page 3: The complete list of ETFs (and ETNs) in registration

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NEW LISTINGS

iShares Fills In Holes With Eight New ETFs

Barclays Global Investors' iShares family launched eight international exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recently, building out its portfolio of international ETFs. Five of those funds were launched on the NASDAQ, the first time that iShares has launched a product on that exchange.

The most interesting new fund may be the iShares FTSE Developed Small Cap ex-North America Index Fund (IFSM), which represents BGI's first foray into the small-cap international arena. Investors have been increasingly interested in this market as they search out non-correlated returns. Although there are other small-cap international ETFs, IFSM’s expense ratio of just 0.50% is the cheapest.

iShares also added four regional REIT funds to the mix:

• iShares FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate ex-U.S. Index Fund (IFGL)
• iShares FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Asia Index Fund (IFAS)
• iShares FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Europe Index Fund (IFEU)
• iShares FTSE EPRA/NAREIT North America Index Fund (IFNA)

Again, iShares has gone low on price, charging just 0.48% in annual expenses for the funds, which is cheaper than competing funds.

Finally, three assorted international ETFs were launched on the NYSE Arca Exchange:

• iShares S&P Asia 50 Index Fund (AIA)
• iShares MSCI BRIC Index Fund (BKF)
• iShares MSCI Chile Index Fund (ECH)

iShares will charge 0.50% for the S&P Asia 50 Fund, 0.75% for the BRIC fund and 0.74% for the Chile fund. Here, the iShares are not always the cheapest option. BKF expense ratio of 0.75%, for instance, compares with the Claymore/BNY BRIC ETF's (EEB) fee of just 0.60%.

Full coverage from IndexUniverse.com is available here.

PowerShares Tackles VRDOs, High-Yield Bonds
PowerShares added two more fixed-income ETFs to its portfolio of funds.

The PowerShares VRDO Tax-Free Weekly Portfolio (PVI) is the first of its kind. It tracks the Thomson Municipal Market Data VRDO Index, which covers variable rate demand obligations (VRDOs). VRDOs are floating-rate bonds issued by municipalities that can be periodically redeemed at par, making them very safe investments. As municipal debt, they are exempt from federal and home-state taxes.
Generally, VRDOs are highly liquid and high-quality investments. However, they generally require a minimum investment of $100,000, which puts them out of reach for the average investor. PVI offers a cheaper and easier way for investors to gain exposure, charging just 0.25%.

The PowerShares High-Yield Corporate Bond Portfolio (PHB) tracks the Wachovia High Yield Bond Index of bonds rated below investment-grade by Moody's, Fitch or Standard & Poor's, and payable in U.S. dollars. PHB has an expense ratio of 0.50%.

The VRDO prospectus is available here.

The high-yield bond prospectus is available here.

First Trust Launches Global Select Dividend Fund

First Trust Advisors launched the First Trust Dow Jones Global Select Dividend Index Fund (FGD) on the American Stock Exchange. FGD carries an expense ratio of 0.60%.
The underlying index includes 100 stocks from more than 11 developed markets, including the U.S. The components are selected and weighted based on dividend yield. The largest country holding in the index is Australia, with a 28.41% weighting. The Dow Jones Global Select Dividend Index was up 15.21% year-to-date as of the end of the third quarter. By comparison, the Dow Jones World Developed Markets Index was up 11.96%.
Full coverage from IndexUniverse.com is available here.
The prospectus is available here.

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