• Page 1: New ETF Listings
• Page 1: New ETF Filings
• Page 2: The complete list of ETFs (and ETNs) in registration

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NEW LISTINGS

Vanguard Launches Small-Cap International Ex-US ETF

The Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap ETF (NYSE Arca: VSS) launched on April 6. The fund tracks the FTSE Global Small Cap ex-U.S. Index. The ETF comes with an expense ratio of 0.38%, the cheapest in the field. It also holds some 2,100 different names, making it one of the broadest.

Vanguard is also advertising it as the only broad-based ETF to cover both developed and emerging markets among international small-cap ETFs.

The rollout came some two weeks after Vanguard opened the first share class of the same fund. The mutual fund shares are more expensive, charging 0.6%.

The new fund and its share classes close a gap in the Vanguard lineup that many asset-allocation-minded investors have been requesting be filled for years.

Read the prospectus here.

NEW FILINGS

ETFS Adds To Precious Metals Filings

Recent filings by London-based ETF Securities (ETFS) indicate that U.S. investors may soon be able to access two precious metals via products structured in a way similar to the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSE Arca: GLD). The ETFS Palladium Trust and the ETFS Platinum Trust each will hold physical bullion of their respective metals.

Palladium and platinum futures are traded in the U.S., but currently there are no exchange-traded funds covering the two elements, just one exchange-traded note covering platinum.

The most recent filings bring the number of ETFS products in registration with the SEC to four—all of them trusts that will hold precious metals (silver, gold, palladium and platinum). ETFS already offers a wide variety of other commodity-based products—what it terms "exchange-traded commodities," or ETCs—on multiple exchanges in Europe. Those products include ETCs covering platinum and palladium. The firm has yet to launch any products on the U.S. market.

Read the filing for the ETFS Platinum Trust here.

EXEMPTIVE RELIEF

FaithShares ETFs Will Target Christians

FaithShares Inc., which is advised by FaithShares Advisors, is asking the Securities and Exchange Commission for approval to offer five new SRI-themed ETFs that target different branches of Christianity. The funds include:

• The FaithShares Baptist Values Fund
• The FaithShares Catholic Values Fund
• The FaithShares Christian Values Fund
• The FaithShares Lutheran Values Fund
• The FaithShares Methodist Values Fund

Each will be based on an index methodology of KLD Research & Analytics, a research firm that specializes in socially responsible investing and has developed a number of well-known SRI indexes.

The FaithShares will be based on indexes from KLD that feature components that have been screened according to the social values of their respective religion. FTSE Group, the well-known international index provider, will calculate the indexes. Various broad FTSE indexes will also be used as benchmarks against the KLD indexes.

The FaithShares funds will focus on large-cap U.S. stocks. KLD will rank those companies by various SRI-themed screens and pick the top 100 for each fund. The funds themselves will then be equal-weighted.

Read the FaithShares exemptive relief request here.

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