ETF Watch: May 23-29

By Heather Bell

NEW LISTINGS

New NETS Cover Portugal And Israel

On May 27, Northern Trust launched two more of its NETS ETFs, bringing the total number of offerings to 14.

The NETS TA-25 Index Fund (NYSE: TAV) tracks the flagship index of Israel's Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange; the index includes the largest 25 stocks by market capitalization. The NETS PSI-20 Index Fund (NYSE: LIS) is tied to the Euronext Lisbon exchange's index of the largest and most liquid stocks trading on its main market.

LIS is the first ETF to cover the Portuguese stock market; it charges an expense ratio of 0.47%. TAV charges 0.70%.

Read the prospectus for the NETS here.

First 130/30 Exchange-Traded Product Debuts

May 22 marked the debut of the first exchange-traded product to track a 130/30 strategy.

The First Trust Enhanced 130/30 Index (AMEX: JFT) has launched in the form of exchanged-traded notes. JP MorganChase is the issuer of the notes, but ETF provider First Trust Advisors was responsible for the benchmark.

ProShares has a similar type of 130/30 portfolio in registration. But it hasn't come out yet. That means JP Morgan has captured first-mover status among exchange-traded products in the popular hedge fund strategy.

The portfolio is a modified equal-weighted total return index designed to offer 130% long and 30% short exposure to selected large-capitalization U.S. publicly traded equity securities. The index’s long positions will be chosen from top stocks in a universe of 2,500 large-caps ranked based on liquidity and a variety of growth and value factors. The short positions will simply reflect the lowest-ranked stocks in the methodology.

No ADRs, REITs or limited partnerships will be included, and the index will be rebalanced quarterly.

JFT charges an expense ratio of 0.95%.

View the prospectus for JFT here.

Fund	Symbol	Exchange	Exp Ratio	Listing Date	Asset Class
NETS TA-25 Index Fund	TAV	NYSE Arca	0.70%	5/27/08	International – Emerging – Country
NETS PSI-20 Index Fund	LIS	NYSE Arca	0.47%	5/27/08	International – Developed – Country
First Trust Enhanced 130/30 Index	JFT	AMEX	0.95%	5/22/08	Strategy

NEW FILINGS

First Trust Advisors Catches The Wind

With alternative energy looking more and more attractive to investors (and end users), First Trust is looking to launch the first wind energy ETF. The First Trust ISE Global Wind Energy Index Fund will track an index from the International Securities Exchange that covers companies that operate in the wind energy industry. The index gives greater weight to pure-play companies, which will represent two-thirds of the index.

So far there are several alternative energy ETFs available, including two solar energy ETFs from Claymore and Van Eck that created quite a splash when they launched recently. A wind energy ETF could garner similar attention.

Read the prospectus here.

• More on choosing the right ETF

Comments

[Lisa:]

I'd be interested to hear if anyone thinks the quant ETFs like the First Trust 30/130 are a threat to hedge funds. They certainly have much lower fees.

2008 May 29 03:47 PM