• 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

U.S. Oil … Revised

Victoria Bay Asset Management rolled out its third ETF on the American Stock Exchange (Amex) on December 6, launching the United States 12 Month Oil Fund under the ticker symbol USL.

The fund is designed to track more closely to the spot price of oil than competing oil futures ETFs. That sounds like a good thing, and to some investors, it might be; but it could also cause the fund to underperform its peers.

Rather than sinking all its money in the near-month oil contract, as funds like the US Oil Fund (USO) do, USL makes equal investments in the next twelve months’ worth of oil futures contracts. This should help it performs better when the oil markets are in contango, and worse when the markets are in backwardation (as they are now).
The fund charges 0.66%.

The prospectus is available here.

Full coverage from IndexUniverse.com is available here.

Vanguard Launches STRIPS ETF

Vanguard launched the Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury ETF (AMEX: EDV) on December 10 … and quickly warned most investors not to buy it.

The new fund tracks the Lehman Brothers Treasury STRIPS 20-30 Year Equal Par Bond Index, which invests in zero-coupon U.S. Treasuries with maturities ranging from 20 to 30 years. Vanguard has said that the fund is not appropriate for most individual investors. While a secure investment, it is designed to help institutional investors defease liabilities.

Generally speaking, STRIPS are Treasuries that have been “stripped” of their interest payments. As a result, they make no interest payments. Instead, they are bought at a deep discount to fair value and then appreciate as they near maturity.

The ETF shares charge 0.14%.

The prospectus is available here.

Full coverage from IndexUniverse.com is available here.

Van Eck Joins Muni Melee

Van Eck Global finally launched its first muni bond ETF, joining a muni bond ETF melee that has seen funds launched by the three biggest names in ETFs: Barclays Global Investors (BGI), State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) and PowerShares.

Van Eck has filed for a full family of muni bond ETFs, but decided to launch first its Market Vectors-Lehman Brothers AMT-Free Intermediate Municipal Index ETF (AMEX: ITM), which targets muni bonds with a nominal maturity of 6-17 years. The fund charges 0.20%, matching the lowest expense ratio in the muni bond ETF space.

The ETF’s creation process is unique from other muni bond ETFs in that its authorized participants are given a daily list of permissible characteristics based on credit rating, sector, issuer, yield, etc., and are allowed to put a portfolio of securities together on their own. Van Eck believes that its system will create a well-diversified portfolio, as different authorized participants will deliver different securities.

The prospectus is available here.

Full coverage from IndexUniverse.com is available here.

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