ETF Watch: June 4 – June 10
By Heather Bell | June 10, 2009

Related ETFs: GVT / QAI / SHY / LQD / EEM / GDX

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ProShares rolls out leveraged international ETFs
IndexIQ launches second hedge fund ETF
Grail files for more actively managed funds

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NEW LISTINGS

ProShares Rolls Out 'Ultra' International ETFs

On June 3, ProShares launched four new “Ultra” ETFs taking 200% positions in four popular foreign indexes.

The new ProShares include the following:

ProShares Ultra MSCI EAFE (NYSE Arca: EFO)
ProShares Ultra MSCI Emerging Markets (NYSE Arca: EET)
ProShares Ultra FTSE/Xinhua China 25 (NYSE Arca: XPP)
ProShares Ultra MSCI Japan (NYSE Arca: EZJ)

These ETFs each seek to capture 2 times the daily performance of their underlying benchmarks. The firm already offers “UltraShort” funds tied to the same four indexes that provide -200% exposure to their benchmarks.

Each of the new funds charges an expense ratio of 0.95%.

Read the original IndexUniverse.com article here.

View the prospectus here.

IndexIQ Launches Second Fund

The second ETF aiming to deliver hedging strategies at bargain-basement prices launched on June 9, when the IQ Hedge Macro Strategy Tracker ETF (NYSE Arca: MCRO) joined its sister ETF, the IQ Hedge Multi-Strategy Tracker ETF (NYSE Arca: QAI), on the market.

The new ETF focuses on combining two hedging strategies—global macro and emerging markets. According to IndexIQ, which created MCRO’s underlying benchmarks and serves as its sponsor, the fund was to start out with about a 75% allocation to emerging markets and 25% to more diversified global markets.

As with the original QAI, the index for MCRO will use ETFs rather than stocks or other securities as constituents. The reasoning is that such a methodology reduces portfolio costs and improves tracking efficiencies. In contrast, hedge funds focusing on global macro and emerging markets typically buy everything from stocks and bonds to commodities and currencies.

MCRO’s largest holdings include the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSE Arca: EEM), the iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (NYSE Arca: SHY) and the iShares iBoxx Investment-Grade Corporate Bond ETF (NYSE Arca: LQD).

The new fund carries an expense ratio of 0.75%.

Read the original IndexUniverse.com article here.

View the prospectus here.

NEW FILINGS

Grail Files For More ETFs

A little more than a month since coming out with the first traditional actively managed exchange-traded fund, Grail Advisors is making plans to launch four more.

In a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission dated June 8, the San Francisco-based asset manager says it wants to complement its recently launched Grail American Beacon Large Cap Value ETF (NYSE Arca: GVT).

The new proposed ETFs will be subadvised by RiverPark Advisors. They will be listed on the NYSE Arca exchange and charge expense ratios of 0.89% apiece. They include the RP Growth ETF, RP Focused Large Cap Grow ETF, RP Financials ETF and RP Technology ETF.

The RP Growth ETF will use fundamental research to select growth stocks, primarily from the U.S., and the “Focused” large-cap growth fund will have a secondary subadvisoe, Wedgewood Partners, who will use a variety of qualitative and quantitative strategies to select large-cap growth firms for the long term. The sector funds will use fundamental analysis to select large- and mid-cap stocks with attractive valuations in their respective sectors. They will focus primarily on U.S. stocks but could also include foreign issues.

Read the original IndexUniverse.com article here.

The filing for Grail's new ETFs can be found here.

Van Eck Plans Small-/Mid-Cap Mining ETF

Van Eck Global has filed papers with the SEC for a new exchange-traded fund that will target small- and mid-cap gold and silver mining companies.

The filing contains few details, but the new Market Vectors Metals ETF will follow a passive indexing strategy to capture a float-adjusted, market-cap-weighted index of smaller mining outfits.

When launched, the new fund will be the first small/mid-cap mining ETF on the market. It will join the very successful Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE Arca: GDX), which captures the large-cap segment of the gold mining market and has more than $4 billion in assets under management.

Read the original article on IndexUniverse.com here.

The new Van Eck filing is available here.

ALPS Files For Commodity ETFs

ALPS Fund Services, best known as a service provider to the exchange-traded funds and mutual funds industries, is expanding its own internally developed lineup of ETFs.
The company has filed papers with the SEC for five new ETFs, all of which are focused on commodity-producing equities. The new funds will be as follows:

Agricultural Producers ETF
Energy Producers ETF
Industrial Metals Producers ETF
Precious Metals Producers ETF
Commodity Producers Composite ETF

All five ETFs will track global indexes that derive at least half of their revenues from the production and distribution of the relevant commodities, subject to certain liquidity and market-cap requirements. The Commodity Producers Composite covers all global commodity producers, pulling from a universe of approximately 2,500 names.

Read the original IndexUniverse.com article here.

The filing for the new funds can be found here.