ETF Watch: February 1 – February 5
By Heather Bell | February 07, 2010

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Here are some of last week’s highlights:

Pimco launches active short-term muni ETF
iShares wants to expand country-specific lineup
Global X plans equity ETFs tied to metals industry

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NEW LISTINGS

Pimco Rolls Out Short-Term Active Muni

Pimco continued to increase its footprint in the actively managed exchange-traded fund space with the launch of another fixed-income fund on Feb. 2. The Pimco Short Term Municipal Bond Strategy (NYSEArca: SMMU) invests in AMT-free muni bonds of short-term maturity. The initial portfolio consists of 31 issues. It comes with an expense ratio of 35 basis points, among the most expensive in the muni asset class; however, Pimco’s funds are the only actively managed muni ETFs available.

Read the original IU.com story here.

Read the prospectus for SMMU here.

NEW FILINGS

iShares To Expand Country-Specific ETFs Roster

Recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission by iShares indicate that the firm is looking to greatly expand its well-known lineup of country-specific ETFs. The latest list from iShares includes the following:

iShares MSCI USA Index Fund (prospectus)
iShares MSCI Brazil Small Cap Index Fund (prospectus)
iShares MSCI Egypt Capped Investable Market Index Fund (prospectus)
iShares MSCI Ireland Capped Investable Market Index Fund (prospectus)
iShares MSCI Russia Capped Index Fund (prospectus)
iShares MSCI Philippines Investable Market Index Fund (prospectus)

There are existing ETFs that cover the U.S., of course, but also the Brazilian small-cap market and Russia. There are also currently funds in registration that are set to cover Egypt, Ireland and the Philippines.

Read the original IU.com article here.

Global X To Add Metals ETFs To Lineup

Global X is the next company to join the rush into metals-based equity ETFs with the registration of four funds tracking companies linked to copper, gold, platinum and silver mining. The space has become fairly popular recently, with Van Eck and ALPS currently operating funds in the area, and First Trust filing to launch its own as well. The Global X ETFs will include the following:

Global X Copper Miners ETF
Global X Gold Miners ETF
Global X Platinum Miners ETF
Global X Silver Miners ETF

Tracking respective market-cap-weighted, free-float-adjusted Solactive Global indexes provided by Structured Solutions AG, each ETF will essentially be a broad-based play in each of those markets.

You can read the original IU.com article here.

You can view the SEC filing here.

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Analyst Blogs

By Paul Baiocchi

Short-Seller’s Guide To GLD

Gold, despite its recent rebound, has gotten clobbered over the past three months.

By Dennis Hudachek

Looking Beyond VWO And EEM

Broad-based, cap-weighted ETFs were the way to play emerging markets over the past decade. But it’s time for investors to become more strategic and look beyond VWO and EEM.

By Alex Ulam | May 21, 2012
iShares Plans LatAm Bond ETF New iShares ETF Takes aim at relatively untapped Latin American bond space.
By Olivier Ludwig | May 18, 2012
Best/Worst Weekly ETF Returns: GREK Off 18.6% GREK tumbled 18.57 percent in the week ended May 17, as the current structure of the eurozone teeters on the brink.
By Cinthia Murphy | May 09, 2012
Van Eck Adds Emerging Corporate Junk ETF Van Eck adds another yield-generating ETF, this one focused on emerging market corporate junk bonds.
By Alex Ulam | April 19, 2012
iShares Debuts Emerging Corporate ETF iShares takes on WisdomTree in providing exposure to corporate debt in fast-growing emerging market countries.
By Cinthia Murphy | March 08, 2012
WisdomTree Emerging Corporates ETF A First WisdomTree’s emerging markets corporate bond ETF beats the competition to the starting line.