ETF Watch: April 11–24

NEW FUNDS

Solar ETFs Debut

Claymore Securities broke new ground recently with the launch of the Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy Index ETF (NYSE: TAN). The fund was the first exchange-traded fund to focus exclusively on companies operating in the solar energy space.

Van Eck followed up with its own fund about a week later, launching the Market Vectors - Solar Energy ETF (AMEX: KWT)

Solar energy, long ignored, is now a hot topic as energy costs continue to rise and concerns about the negative effects of fossil fuel use grow.

The funds are very similar, holding a global portfolio of stocks focused on the solar energy area. Both hold 27 companies and charge 0.65% in annual expenses.

IndexUniverse.com compared the funds in-depth here.

Read the prospectus for TAN here.

Read the prospectus for KWT here.

New ETFs: April 11-April 24, 2008
Fund	Ticker	Asset Class	Expense Ratio	Listing Site	Listing Date
PowerShares Active MegaCap Fund	PLK	Large Cap	0.75%	NYSE Arca	4/11/2008
PowerShares Active Low Duration Fund	PLK	Bonds	0.29%	NYSE Arca	4/11/2008
PowerShares Active AlphaQ Fund	PQY	Mid Cap Growth	0.75%	NYSE Arca	4/11/2008
PowerShares Active Alpha Multi-Cap Fund	PQZ	Mid Cap Growth	0.75%	NYSE Arca	4/11/2008
NETS DAX Index Fund (Germany)	DAX	International - Developed	0.47%	AMEX	4/11/2008
Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy Index	TAN	Sector - Energy	0.65%	NYSE Arca	4/15/2008
DB Agriculture Short ETN	ADZ	Commodities - General	0.75%	NYSE Arca	4/15/2008
DB Agriculture Long ETN	AGF	Commodities - General	0.75%	NYSE Arca	4/15/2008
DB Agriculture Double Short ETN	AGA	Commodities - General	0.75%	NYSE Arca	4/15/2008
DB Agriculture Double Long ETN	DAG	Commodities - General	0.75%	NYSE Arca	4/15/2008
NETS TOPIX Index Fund (Japan)	TYI	International - Developed	0.47%	NYSE Arca	4/16/2008
NETS Hang Send Index Fund (Hong Kong)	HKG	International - Developed	0.47%	NYSE Arca	4/16/2008
NETS CAC40 Index Fund (France)	FRC	International - Developed	0.47%	NYSE Arca	4/16/2008
Market Vectors - Solar Energy	KWT	Sector - Energy	0.65%	AMEX	4/23/2008

Doubling And Shorting ETNs For The Red-Hot Ags Market

On April 15, Deutsche Bank launched four new exchange-traded notes on the NYSE Arca exchange; all four offered short or leveraged exposure to agriculture commodities. The funds are:

• DB Agriculture Double Short ETN (NYSE: AGA)
• DB Agriculture Double Long ETN (NYSE: DAG)
• DB Agriculture Short ETN (NYSE: ADZ)
• DB Agriculture Long ETN (NYSE: AGF)

The funds each charge 0.75% in expenses, and are linked to the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index – Optimum Yield Agriculture. AGF aims to deliver 100% of the monthly return of the underlying index, while ADZ aims to deliver -100% of that return. The “Double” funds aim to deliver 200% (AGA) and -200% (DAG) of the monthly return.

These are the second leveraged and inverse commodity notes launched by Deutsche Bank, following the successful debut of its 200%, -100% and -200% ETNs tied to the price of gold futures (tickers DGP, DZZ and DGZ respectively).

View the prospectus on the new DB ETNs here.

PowerShares Rolls Out Active ETF Family

Invesco PowerShares recently became the first ETF provider to launch a family of active ETFs. The four long-awaited PowerShares ETFs are listed on the NYSE Arca exchange.
The four funds include three equity funds and one fixed income fund. AER Advisors oversees two of the equity funds---PowerShares Active AlphaQ Fund (PQY) and the PowerShares Active Alpha Multi-Cap Fund (PQZ)---using a quant-based methodology that tilts toward growth stocks.

The PowerShares Active MegaCap Fund (PMA) is managed by Invesco and uses a quant-based (and low turnover) screening system to select the best large cap stocks.

All three of the equity funds charge expense ratios of 0.75%.

Finally, the PowerShares Active Low Duration Fund (PLK) is a fixed-income fund targeting a duration of 0-3 years. PowerShares has positioned PLK as a tool for dealing with interest rate risk and as a possible core portfolio holding. It charges an expense ratio of 0.29%.

You can read the prospectus for the new PowerShares funds here.

NETS Expands To Germany, Japan, Hong Kong

Northern Trust continued the aggressive rollout of its global ETF family, launching funds tied to the German, Japanese, French and Hong Kong markets.

The NETS DAX Index Fund (AMEX: DAX) launched on April 11 and provides exposure to the DAX Index, the best-known measure of the German market.

The three other funds listed on the NYSE Arca exchange on April 16 and are:

• NETS CAC40 Index Fund (France): FRC
• NETS Hang Seng Index Fund (Hong Kong): HKG
• NETS TOPIX Index Fund (Japan): TYI

All of the funds charge 0.47% in annual expenses.

The prospectus is available here.

NEW FILINGS

PowerShares Files For Frontier ETF

Frontier market ETFs are going to be coming to a stock exchange near you… eventually. Invesco PowerShares recently filed with the SEC to create just such a fund. Frontier markets are those that are ranked just below emerging markets in terms of development. The asset class has gotten more attention as emerging markets have begun displaying closer correlations with developed markets. Vietnam's phenomenal growth in recent years has also not hurt matters.

The PowerShares MENA Frontier Countries Portfolio will track the Middle East and Africa Frontier Countries Index, which covers 50 stocks—five each from Nigeria, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, Oman, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Components must have market capitalizations of at least $500 million, and a six-month average daily traded value of at least $1 million.

Read the prospectus here.