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- Page 1: New ETF listings
- Page 2: The complete list of ETFs (and ETNs) in registration
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NEW LISTINGS
Market Vectors Family Adds Indonesia ETF
The largest economy in Southeast Asia now has its first exchange-traded fund, with the January launch of the Market Vectors Indonesia Index ETF (NYSE Arca: IDX). The new fund comes with an expense ratio expected to wind up at 0.71%. According to Van Eck, Indonesia has one of the lowest correlations to developed markets among emerging markets.
IDX's underlying index had 25 stocks entering 2009, each of which were based in Indonesia or had at least 50% of their revenues generated within that country's borders. Banks made up 31% of its constituents; Energy 15.7%; Telecom 12.7% and Materials 11.4%. Its top three individual names were: Bank Central Asia (8.8%), Telekomunikasi Indonesia (7.5%) and Bank Rakyat Indonesia (7.0%).
With its first directly elected president in 2004, Indonesia's real gross domestic product growth rate has averaged 5.5% in the past five years, according to a white paper provided by Van Eck Global. The paper also pointed out that the country has the fourth-largest population in the world, rich natural resources and agricultural prospects, and a diversified exports base, among other promising features.
Read the prospectus for the Market Vectors Indonesia ETF here.
NEW FILINGS
VIX-Tracking ETNs On The Way
At long last, it looks like there will soon be exchange-traded products tied to the much-followed VIX. Barclays Capital, the unit of London-based Barclays PLC and a sibling of Barclays Global Investors, has filed to launch a pair of ETNs that will track the Chicago Board Options Exchange's Volatility Index.
There's no word yet when the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures and the iPath S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETNs will debut, but it could be within weeks rather than months, from the looks of the most recent filing. According to the filings, the new VIX ETNs will charge net fees to investors of 0.89% per year and trade on the NYSE Arca exchange. Both ETNs will continuously roll over contracts and will track indexes based on different rolling long positions in futures on the VIX index.
The short-term iPath will trade one- and two-month VIX futures. The benchmark's goal is to maintain a weighted average of one month, according to the prospectus. The midterm iPath will rotate among four-, five-, six- and seven-month contracts as they come due, shooting for a weighted average maturity of five months.
The ETNs' underlying benchmarks were created by Standard & Poor's
and have limited backtested performance data. The filing notes that VIX
futures have only traded freely since March 2004, "and not all futures
of all relevant maturities have traded at all times since that data."
The actual VIX Index is calculated based on the prices of put and call options on the S&P 500. The filing noted that futures on the VIX Index provide investors the ability to invest in forward volatility based on their view of the future direction or movement of the VIX Index.
There have been calls for exchange-traded products based on the index for some time due to its negative correlation with stocks.
Read the filing on the VIX ETNs here.
Grail Files For More-Active ETFs
Grail Advisors has requested approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch two new ETFs, both of which are designed to press a more active mandate than currently on the market.
In a filing dated Jan. 14, the San Francisco-based asset manager proposes creation of the Grail American Beacon Large Cap Value ETF and the Grail American Beacon International Equity ETF. Neither would follow an index, and both portfolios would be subadvised by longtime mutual fund manager American Beacon.
Importantly, the new funds won't carry any restrictions on trading. That would put it in the same ballpark as the PowerShares Active Mega Cap (NYSE: PMA). PMA theoretically can trade at any time. But PowerShares has said it anticipates the fund executing trades only on a monthly basis over the longer term.
Whether the new Grail-sponsored ETFs will wind up trading as much as their flexible mandates allow is still to be determined. The company says target ranges for turnover rates for each fund will be addressed in the future as specific managers are selected and investment strategies are formalized.
According to Grail executives, the funds will be entirely transparent, and their expense ratios will be competitive. While the large-cap value fund will be benchmarked to the Russell 1000 Value Index, the foreign stock actively managed ETF will seek to beat the MSCI EAFE Index.
Read the filing for the active Grail funds here.
Direxion Adds To Original Filing
With nearly 20 triple-exposure ETFs successfully launched and more funds possibly waiting in the wings, Direxion is looking to expand its lineup beyond its original filing of 30-some funds. The firm’s latest prospectus indicates that it plans to add eight more “Bull” (300% exposure to the index) and “Bear” (-300% exposure) funds.
The funds will be tied to Merrill Lynch indexes covering two-year, five-year, 10-year and 30-year Treasuries. As with the rest of the Direxion ETFs, the funds are projected to charge 0.95% in expenses.
Read the filing here.
Active Non-Agency RMBS Funds In Registration
PowerShares is seeking to add more actively managed ETFs with its most recent filing.
The PowerShares Prime Non-Agency RMBS Opportunity Fund and the PowerShares Alt-A Non-Agency RMBS Opportunity Fund will offer actively managed exposure to prime and Alt-A residential mortgage-backed securities, respectively. Alt-A mortgages are somewhere between prime and subprime mortgages in terms of their associated risk. The “non-agency” designation means that these loans do not necessarily fall within the standards set by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight and that they have not been issued by a government-sponsored enterprise such as Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.
With more mortgage defaults on the way, ETFs that provide active rather than indexed exposure to the asset class may hold a great deal of appeal for investors, especially in the less regulated area of non-agency mortgages. Currently, the MBS area is only covered by the iShares MBS Bond Fund (NYSE Arca: MBB), which has accumulated about $955 million in assets. However, that fund only covers agency mortgage-backed securities.
PowerShares already has four actively managed ETFs currently trading, including a real estate fund and a short-term fixed-income fund.
Read the filing for the actively managed RMBS ETFs here.
SPDRs To Serve Up Snacks
State Street Global Advisors’ SPDR family could be set to add a new subsector ETF. The firm has filed a prospectus for a fund covering the U.S. food and beverage industry.
The SPDR S&P Food & Beverage ETF's underlying index is designed to have at least 21 components that are selected based on liquidity and market capitalization. All components are U.S. companies and fall under the Food & Beverage designation in the Global Industry Classification Standard, S&P’s method of classifying stocks, which is also shared by MSCI.
Only PowerShares offers a food and beverage ETF. The PowerShares Dynamic Food & Beverage Portfolio (NYSE Arca: PBJ) is based on a multifactored quantitative index and has accumulated about $82 million in assets. It was launched in June of 2005.
Read the filing for the SPDR fund here.
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