Schwab Grabs Lowest Cost Dividend ETF Crown
Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) introduced the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) on 10/20/11. With an expense ratio of just 0.17%, the new ETF becomes the lowest cost U.S. listed dividend fund. Schwab’s online customers can also buy and sell it commission-free. According to the underlying...
New iShares Low Volatility Suite
iShares introduced a new “low volatility” suite on October 20, 2011. The four new ETFs use multi-factor risk models in an attempt to create lower-risk equity portfolios. Each is based on a different MSCI stock universe: U.S., foreign developed markets, emerging markets, or all country/world. iShares...
LEMB Joins Crowded Emerging Markets Local Currency Niche
BlackRock launched iShares Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond Fund (LEMB) on October 20, 2011. The new ETF specializes in publicly issued emerging market sovereign debt in the issuer’s local currency. LEMB already quickly gathered more than $30 million in assets despite a crowded field of similar...
VelocityShares Launches Eight Precious Metals ETNs
VelocityShares last week (10/17/11) added new ETNs linked to the performance of +/- 3x gold and silver futures and +/- 2x palladium and platinum futures. These are the first ETPs providing U.S. investors with this magnitude of precious metals leverage. The sponsor firm is a relatively new arrival in...
A Dozen New ETFs in the First Dozen Days of October
Early October saw more new ETFs come to market. The twelve recent introductions push the year-to-date count of new ETFs and ETNs to 260. The industry is on pace to have the most prolific year yet for new exchange-traded products. October’s early dozen includes four new ProShares ETFs, Russell’s...
ETF Deathwatch for October 2011: 29 New Names
The ETF Deathwatch membership list surged this month with twenty-nine new names. Only six products came off the list, leaving a net increase of twenty-three and boosting the overall count from 163 to 186, a 14% increase. Of those, 146 are ETFs and 40 are ETNs. It was the first month of eligibility...
FLYX Fails to Fly
Today (10/10/11) is the last day of trading for Direxion Airline Shares (FLYX). I questioned the viability of this fund at the time of its December 2010 launch. Being a non-leveraged ETF, the offering was out of character for Direxion. Additionally, it targeted a niche containing an existing product,...
Active ETFs Continue to Struggle: PQZ and PQY Close
The two oldest actively-managed ETFs are no longer with us. September 30, 2011 marked the last day of trading for PowerShares Active Alpha Multi-Cap (PQZ) and PowerShares Active AlphaQ (PQY). Both were launched on April 11, 2008. Their demise clearly illustrates the obstacles facing all actively-managed...
ETF Stats for September 2011: Assets Slip Below $1 Trillion
Product launch activity picked up in September following a sluggish summer. New exchange-traded product listings totaled 37 during the month, consisting of 20 ETFs and 17 ETNs. There were three closings (two ETFs and one ETN), producing a net-increase of 34. The quantity of listed products totaled...
State Street Adds Three ETFs to SPDR Select Industry Lineup
State Street last Thursday (9/29/2011) announced three new SPDR Select Industry ETFs to track the performance of related S&P Select Industry Indexes. The new offerings are the SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR), SPDR S&P Health Care Services ETF (XHS), and SPDR S&P Software...
