Deutsche Bank to Launch World's First Inverse Bond ETF in Europe

By Murray Coleman

As sponsors rush to come out with the next big exchange-traded fund, Deutsche Bank (DB) seems to be taking just the opposite approach with its newest release overseas.

The global financial giant is set to launch an ETF that will take a short position in eurozone bonds, according to a new report by HedgeWorld. The publication even talked to a DB executive who says the new fund, which should begin trading in May in Europe, will be the world's first short bond ETF.

With the exchange rates of the euro soaring against the greenback and other major currencies, this new product could be taken as either way ahead of its time or totally unconcerned about current market conditions.

The new fund will track a recently launched total return eurozone bond index designed by Markit, an independent researcher. The benchmark will reflect short positions in the existing Markit iBoxx EUR Sovereign Eurozone Index. "However, the short index is more than just an inverse position of the reference index, in that it will take into account both the revenue from the short sale of the bonds constituting the index and of the current repo rate," the story added.

HedgeWorld suggests the new short bond ETF will be a useful tool for hedge fund managers, especially those dealing in arbitrage of fixed-income instruments. "Funds that believe they can identify the potential outperformers from the relevant universe will be able to balance long positions in the best priced securities with the cheap short exposure permitted," the magazine concluded.

DB earlier this week released leveraged and inverse commodities ETFs in the U.S. So far, it has taken first-mover status away from others vying for market share in exchange-traded notes domestically. Apparently, it's trying to expand even more across Europe with exchange-traded products.

"We have launched a new short bond index in response to customer demand," said David Mark, director of Markit Indices, in a statement. "The Markit iBoxx indices are increasingly the benchmark of choice for investment products throughout Europe, and we believe this new index further enhances the index universe."

• More on choosing the right ETF