AMEX Launches 8 New PowerShares ETFs

It seems that we’re inching ever closer to true actively-managed ETFs. The latest development: 8 new PowerShares ETFs were launched on the Amex today.

For those who haven’t been following their development, PowerShares takes a unique approach to ETFs. Whereas other ETFs track broad-based indices like the S&P 500 that attempt to reflect the composition of the overall market, PowerShares track their own set of proprietary indices that implement stock screens. The indexes are rebalanced relatively frequently to overweight the stocks that Powershares believes will outperform the market, and underweight those that it thinks will lag. In this way, PowerShares represent an investment in a stock screen / trading strategy, rather than in a sector or the market as a whole. However, since PowerShares are still technically “index” funds, the SEC allows them to be implemented using the typical ETF structure and they enjoy many of the same advantages as conventional ETFs.

From the Amex press release, the new PowerShares are:

1. PowerShares Lux Nanotech Portfolio (PXN)
2. PowerShares Aerospace & Defense Portfolio (PPA)
3. PowerShares Dynamic Building & Construction Portfolio (PKB)
4. PowerShares Dynamic Energy Exploration & Production Portfolio (PXE)
5. PowerShares Dynamic Insurance Portfolio (PIC)
6. PowerShares Dynamic Oil & Gas Services Portfolio (PXJ)
7. PowerShares Dynamic Retail Portfolio (PMR)
8. PowerShares Dynamic Utilities Portfolio (PUI)

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