• Page 1: New ETF listings
• Page 2: ETF industry statistics including weekly performance update
• Page 3: The complete list of ETFs (and ETNs) in registration

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NEW LISTINGS

WisdomTree Launches Dividend-Weighted GULF ETF

On July 15, the WisdomTree Middle East Dividend Fund (NASDAQ: GULF) became the latest frontier-dominated ETF to launch. Just as significantly, perhaps, is that it's also the second such type of fund to choose the world's dominant oil producing region as its focal point for investing. With oil prices soaring, so too are Middle Eastern stock markets.

According to WisdomTree, because of rising oil prices, the correlation between the U.S. and the Middle East is one of the lowest to be found.

Although not listed as a pure frontier markets play, some 80% of GULF's stocks are from markets fitting that category. The other 20% represent larger—and relatively poorer performing—emerging markets constituents. GULF currently covers seven major Middle Eastern markets – Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Morocco, Jordan and Oman, although Bahrain is also eligible.  The dividend-weighted index currently has about 70 components.

The PowerShares MENA Frontier Countries Portfolio (NASDAQ: PMNA) also launched recently. It's based on the NASDAQ OMX Middle East North Africa Index and covers many of the same countries. The fund’s annual expense ratio is 0.70% after the application of a waiver.

GULF charges 0.88%.

Read the prospectus for GULF here.

NEW FILINGS

State Street Files For Emerging Markets, International Sector ETFs

State Street Global Advisors has been busy. It has a bunch of new filings for ETFs covering emerging markets and international sectors – 14 funds in all.

Three of the funds cover some very hot markets – India, Russia and Brazil, three of the four BRIC markets. There are already funds in this space, but there may be room for a few more.

The SPDR S&P India ETF will track the S&P India Select Index, which is derived from the India-domiciled companies in the S&P/IFC Investable Index. The index is adjusted for float and weighted by modified market capitalization. The fund will compete with two existing ETFs and an ETN also cover India – the WisdomTree India Earnings Fund (NYSE Arca: EPI), the PowerShares India Portfolio (NYSE Arca: PIN) and the iPath MSCI India ETN (NYSE Arca: INP).     

Meanwhile, the SPDR S&P Brazil ETF will track S&P(R)/Citigroup the Brazil Capped Index, a float-adjusted index derived from the Brazil-domiciled companies in the S&P/Citigroup BMI Global Equity Index. The index, weighted by modified market capitalization, has roughly 130 components. Although there are a few BRIC funds out there, the only fund currently covering just the Brazilian market is the iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund (NYSE Arca: EWZ).

The SPDR S&P Russia will track the S&P S&P/Citigroup Russia Capped Index, which has about 55 components. The index, which selects its components from the Russia-domiciled components of the S&P BMI World Index, is, like the other two, float-adjusted and weighted by modified market capitalization. The only ETF currently covering Russia is the Market Vectors – Russia ETF (NYSE Arca: RSX).

But that’s not all that S&P is doing with emerging markets – there’s also a filing for a fixed income fund. The SPDR Lehman Emerging Markets Local Sovereign Debt ETF is not the first emerging market debt ETF of its kind; there are already two currently trading: the PowerShares Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt Portfolio (AMEX: PCY) and the iShares JPMorgan USD Emerging Markets Bond Fund (NYSE Arca: EMB). The proposed SPDR fund will track the Lehman Brothers Emerging Market Local Capped Index, which covers fixed-rate local currency sovereign debt. Although the other two funds cover emerging markets sovereign (and quasi-sovereign) debt, the SPDR fund will be the first to do so in local currency.

Finally, SSgA has filed for 10 international sector ETFs based on the sectors of the S&P/Citigroup BMI World ex-US Index – that means the funds will be the first broad international sector ETFs to exclude the U.S. while combining the rest of the developing markets with the emerging markets. The funds will cover the Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Energy, Financial, Health Care, Industrial, Materials, Technology, Telecommunications and Utilities sectors. Each fund will charge an expense ratio of 0.50%.

Why is SSgA filing all these second- or third-to-market funds, when history shows that the first mover in each marketplace has an enormous advantage in the ETF market?  It appears as though the company wants to fill out its own ETF line-up, so it can offer a complete and consistent set of products across all equity and fixed-income asset classes.  The company probably doesn’t expect these to become multi-billion-dollar ETFs overnight; but if they help bring people into the SPDRs brand, maybe it makes sense.

Read the prospectus for the SPDR S&P India ETF, the SPDR S&P Russia ETF and the SPDR S&P Brazil ETF here.

Read the prospectus for the SPDR Lehman Emerging Markets Local Sovereign Debt ETF here.

Read the prospectus for the international sector SPDRs here.

Northern Trust Plans More NETS

Northern Trust is looking to expand its lineup of country ETFs tracking local indexes if a recent filing is anything to judge by.

The proposed funds include the NETS BOVESPA Index Fund, which will track a local index of the largest and most liquid stocks trading on Brazil’s Sao Paulo Stock Exchange; the NETS IPC Index Fund, which will track Mexico’s main local index of about 35 to 50 stocks; the NETS OMXS30 Index Fund, which tracks a local index of the most traded stocks on Sweden’s Stockholm Stock Exchange; the NETS SLI Index Fund, which tracks the largest and most liquid companies domiciled in Switzerland and Liechtenstein that trade on the SWX Swiss Exchange; and finally, the NETS FTSE Canada Index Fund, which is not a local market index but does track the Canadian market via the FTSE Canada Index, which is a subindex of the FTSE All-World Index.

Currently, iShares from Barclays Global Investors are already available for each of the five markets.

Read the prospectus for the NETS funds here.

iShares Plans For More Fixed Income ETFs

BGI has filed for another two fixed income ETFs. Although it was only a couple of years ago that there were only five fixed income ETFs trading on U.S. exchanges, that has changed quite a bit in the last couple of years, with the number of fixed income ETFs growing exponentially.

The iShares S&P Short Term National Municipal Bond Fund would not be the first of its kind – Van Eck and SSgA already have short-term muni ETFs trading – but it does help to round out the iShares family of muni bond ETFs. The fund will track the S&P National 0-5 Year Municipal Bond Index, which covers short-term, investment-grade municipal debt. The index includes roughly 755 issues and represents a total market value of more than $78 billion.

The other fixed income filing is for the iShares Lehman Agency Bond Fund, which tracks – as its name would imply – the Lehman Brothers U.S. Agency Index. The index tracks agency debentures – non-collateralized debt that is issued by government agencies or government-sponsored enterprises. The market for agency debt is quite large, but the composition of the index might give some investors pause: The Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (otherwise known as “Fannie Mae” and “Freddie Mac”), along with the Federal Home Loan Bank System, represent 92% of the index’s total weight. As you know, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the recent recipients of a government bailout. It will be interesting to see how investors respond to the fund, should it launch any time soon.

Read the prospectus for the iShares S&P Short Term National Municipal Bond Fund here.

Read the prospectus for the iShares Lehman Agency Bond Fund here.

RevenueShares Plans Two More ETFs

The RevenueShares family of ETFs is seeking to add another two ETFs to its lineup – like the others, these will be based on traditional indexes that have been reweighted using revenues instead of market capitalization.

There are already RevenueShares ETFs based on the S&P 500, the S&P MidCap 400 and the S&P SmallCap 600, but the latest filing expands into different territory.

The RevenueShares ADR Fund would track a revenue-weighted version of the S&P ADR Index, which includes the components of the S&P Global 1200 Ex-U.S. Index that have American Depositary Receipts trading on a U.S. exchange as well any Canadian companies in the parent index that are listed on a U.S. exchange.

The fund will charge an expense ratio of 0.49%.

The other ETF in the filing is pretty interesting as well. Research firm Navellier & Associates applies a quantitative methodology that uses several fundamental factors such as free cash flow, earnings momentum and sales growth to rank U.S. stocks. The Navellier Overall A-100 Index includes the top 100 stocks based on the firm’s rankings and a revenue-weighted index of its components will underlie the RevenueShares Overall A-100 Fund.

The fund will charge an expense ratio of 0.60%.

Read the new filing from the RevenueShares ETF family here.

ETF Data Watch

Note: These numbers refer only to U.S. ETFs and ETNs. Data as of June 27, 2008, from the American Stock Exchange, unless otherwise noted.

Pure Numbers
Total number of ETFs listed in the U.S.: 715
Total number of ETNs listed in the U.S.: 78*
Total ETF assets: $574 billion
Total number of ETFs and ETNs in registration: 526*

*Data not provided by the American Stock Exchange

ETFs Filed – By Fund Company

There are currently 497 ETFs and ETNs with prospectuses filed at the SEC.
You can click on any fund and link directly to the prospectus.