Invesco PowerShares is set to launch two sector exchange-traded funds on Thursday, one focusing on global transportation stocks and the other global biotech firms.

While neither will be the first in their respective niches, they offer different takes on each sector that set them apart from their competitors. The funds are: the Global Progressive Transportation Portfolio (NASDAQ: PTRP) and the Global Biotech Portfolio (Nasdaq: PBTQ).

New Transportation ETF

PTRP enters as a direct competitor to the iShares Dow Jones Transportation Average Index (NYSEArca: IYT). It will also no doubt grab some attention from investors interested in the recently opened Claymore Securities Claymore/Delta Global Shipping ETF (NYSEArca: SEA).

But PTRP has an energy twist. The PowerShares transportation ETF is based on the Nasdaq OMX Wilder Global Efficient Transportation Index. It's targeting, among other emerging technologies, the makers of lithium batteries and fuel cell technology. The index also includes companies such as scooter maker Vespa and bicycle manufacturer Shimano, as well as companies in the public transportation area.

IYT mirrors the Dow Jones Transportation Index, which is concentrated in 21 stocks and in which the trucking, railroad and freight sectors dominate. Its top holdings as of Aug. 31 included: Burlington Northern, Federal Express, Union Pacific, United Parcel Service, Overseas ShipholdingGroup and Norfolk Southern.

Another notable difference between IYT and PTRP is the new ETF's global orientation. PTRP holds approximately 42% of its assets in U.S. stocks. That's the largest country concentration in the fund, with Canada holding the second-greatest country weight (10%), followed by Taiwan (7.8%) and Japan (7.3%).

By contrast, IYT's benchmark is comprised solely of U.S. companies.

In each of the new PowerShares fund's four main sectors—alternative vehicles, rail and subway systems, transportation, innovation and intermodal—PTRP's index has holdings from South America, Europe and Asia along with North America. It is also equal-weighted across the four sectors.

The new Claymore Securities shipping ETF is also global in nature (see related story).

Not to leave any confusion in the minds of investors, however, PTRP is not a clean energy or sustainability play in terms of its competitive positioning in the market, like the three existing PowerShares clean energy funds based on indexes from WilderShares LLC. It is a transportation fund, first and foremost, and that can be clearly seen in the index's second level of holdings, where "old" transportation abounds, including railroad heavyweights CSX and Union Pacific. A notable exception comes in the transportation area where there's an absence of any car manufacturers, even hybrid leaders Toyota and Honda Motor Co.

Rob Wilder, chief executive of index provider WilderShares, says among car manufacturers, Honda would be the most likely to be added to the index first, and there will be room, in general, for the inclusion of the makers of small hybrid cars and plug-in cars.

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