New ETF Family FocusShares Offers 4 Niche Funds

A new exchange-traded fund [ETF] company debuted on Friday, as FocusShares LLC listed four new ETFs on the NYSE Arca platform. The new funds are all tied to indexes from the options-focused International Securities Exchange (ISE), and represent one way that exchange is looking to capitalize on its indexing research efforts.

The new funds are:

• FocusShares ISE Homebuilders Index Fund (NYSE: SAW): Companies focused on the residential home construction and prefabricated housing market.
• FocusShares ISE SINdex Fund (NYSE: PUF): Buys companies involved in casinos, liquor and cigarettes.
• FocusShares ISE-CCM Homeland Security Index Fund (NYSE: MYP): Holds companies that have contracted work with the Department of Homeland Security, such as bio-vaccine outfits.
• FocusShares ISE-REVERE Wal-Mart Supplier Index Fund (NYSE: WSI): Holds companies that derive a large portion of their revenues from sales to Wal-Mart.

The funds are, as the company's name suggests, focused, holding just 20 and 30 companies each. That's a growing trend in the ETF industry, as more narrowly focused funds pop up aiming to hone in on very specific investment themes.

The homebuilders fund charges 0.35% in expenses, while the other funds charge 0.60%. The SINdex is an equally weighted fund, while the other ETFs follow a modified market-cap structure.

The SINdex may have the most immediate appeal, as it has a catchy story and has delivered good returns; as they say, sin pays. The index is up 16% year-to-date despite a rough November, and has tripled since 2002. The only obvious alternative for investors looking to engage their dark sides is the Vice Fund [VICEX], an actively managed fund with a five-star rating from Morningstar. Still, VICEX's expense ratio is positively ... well ... sinful, at 1.75%, and investors may be better served trading active sin for passive sin and saving 1.15% per year.

The Wal-Mart Suppliers fund may be the most innovative of the bunch. It holds a set of companies that sell a large percentage of their goods through Wal-Mart: household names like Kellogg and Mattel. The index has significantly outperformed Wal-Mart itself, and is an interesting proxy for the American retail economy. Investors who are no longer enamored with the retailing giant from an investment perspective ... but who think the company could continue to take a bigger slice of the retailing pie ... may find this product interesting.

The homebuilders ETF could be an interesting contrarian play, as that market has been absolutely hammered of late. The index has lost more than 64% of its value year-to-date. But the fund may have a hard time distinguishing itself from its established competitors: the SPDR Homebuilders ETF (XHB) and the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB). XHB charges the same 0.35% expense ratio as the new FocusShares fund, while ITB charges 0.48%.

Finally, the homeland security occupies its own niche, although it may have missed its window. The homeland security theme was hot a few years ago, but it's unclear how it holds together now. Still, it is the only homeland security ETF out there, and you could easily argue the investment case for that sector continuing to grow. The closest competition is the PowerShares Aerospace and Defense ETF (PPA), which tracks a broader portfolio of defense companies.

• More on Primary US Sector ETFs