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Summary Every week, Seeking Alpha aggregates ETF updates in an effort to alert readers and contributors to changes in the market. There were 10 launches in the last 3 weeks. Have a view on something that’s coming up or a new fund? Submit an article. Welcome back to the SA ETF Update. My goal is to keep Seeking Alpha readers up to date on the ETF universe and to gain some visibility, both for the ETF community, and for me as its editor (so users know who to approach with issues, article ideas, to become a contributor, etc.) Every weekend, or every other weekend (depending on the reader response and submission volumes), we will highlight fund launches and closures for the week, as well as any news items that could impact ETF investors. December has been a busy month of the ETF industry, full of launches, company purchases and existing fund updates. On December 2nd, OppenheimerFunds (NYSE: OPY ) acquired 100% of the stock interests of VTL Associates, LLC, the owner of the RevenueShares brand of exchange traded funds. According to a press release from OppenheimerFunds, “VTL manages $1.7 billion for investors across eight ETFs and its separate accounts. Of the six ETFs that have sufficient track records to be rated by Morningstar, four are either four- or five-star rated.” The largest of these funds, the RevenueShares Large Cap ETF (NYSEARCA: RWL ), currently has $338.5 million in assets under management. It is unclear what direction OppenheimerFunds will take these ETFs in, but I hope to see further offerings from the company in 2016. Also shaking things up was First Trust, which on the 18th restructured two of its existing offerings. The First Trust ISE Global Copper Index Fund (NASDAQ: CU ) is now the First Trust Indxx Global Natural Resources Income ETF (FTRI), and the First Trust ISE Global Platinum Index Fund (NASDAQ: PLTM ) is the First Trust Indxx Global Agriculture ETF (FTAG). These are basically new ETFs when you consider the changes made. FTRI will cover the exploration and production side of the natural resources space, and FTAG offer investors coverage of all aspects of the farming industry. Clearly ETF issuers do not take the holidays off. With 2016 coming up, this is crunch time for filings and launches before end of year deadlines. Besides FTRI and FTAG there were 10 ETFs launched in the last three weeks. With tons to cover, let’s jump right in. Fund launches for the week of December 7th, 2015 Elkhorn launches its second ETF (12/10): After the success of the Elkhorn S&P 500 Capital Expenditures Portfolio (NASDAQ: CAPX ), Elkhorn has released its second exchange traded product. The Elkhorn FTSE RAFI U.S. Equity Income ETF (BATS: ELKU ) is designed to track the performance of domestic high yield stocks, focusing on sustainable income. Ben Fulton, Founder and CEO of Elkorn stated the following on the fund and its index in a press release : “Income remains an important area of need for investors and Research Affiliates brings a new and thoughtful approach to high yield equity investing.” iShares adds another emerging market fund to its lineup (12/10): The iShares FactorSelect MSCI Emerging ETF (BATS: EMGF ) seeks above-market returns over the long term from emerging market large- and mid-cap stocks. According to the ETF homepage, the fund features a “focus on drivers of emerging market equity performance: inexpensive stocks, financially healthy firms, trending stocks and relatively low market cap companies.” This is the 9th broad emerging market equity fund from iShares, all of which saw poor returns in 2015. Fund launches for the week of December 14th, 2015 Pacer rolls out 2 Europe focused ETFs (12/15): The Pacer Trendpilot European Index ETF (BATS: PTEU ) and the Pacer Autopilot Hedged European Index ETF (BATS: PAEU ) both track strategies that focus on the FTSE Eurobloc Index. PTEU is similar to previous Pacer funds, as it uses complex technical indicators to hedge its position when the market outlook is poor, and go all in when the outlook is strong. PAEU however is the first of Pacer’s Autopilot funds. Still alternating between a hedged or unhedged market position, PAEU instead hopes to take advantage of the fluctuation in exchange rates. Guggenheim launches a smart beta DJIA ETF (12/16): According to the funds homepage, the Guggenheim Dow Jones Industrial Average Dividend ETF (NYSEARCA: DJD ) “seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before the fund’s fees and expenses, of the Dow Jones Industrial Average® Yield Weighted index.” Unlike other large indexes, the Dow is a price-weighted index, meaning the priciest of the 30 stocks in the index make up the largest positions. This dividend focus is a better fit for income seeking investors still looking to hold the DJIA in their portfolios. State Street Global Advisors (NYSE: STT ) launches a natural resources ETF (12/16): The SPDR S&P North American Natural Resources ETF (NYSEARCA: NANR ) tracks an index of “U.S. traded securities that are classified under the GICS energy and materials sector excluding the chemicals industry; and steel sub-industry” according to the fund homepage. The iShares North American Natural Resources ETF (NYSEARCA: IGE ), a very similar fund which has been trading since 2001, currently has a YTD of -25%. Hopefully the industry improves in 2016. Fund launches for the week of December 21st, 2015 JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM ) adds to its growing ETF lineup (12/21): – The JPMorgan Diversified Return Europe Equity ETF (NYSEARCA: JPEU ) is the 6th ETF from JPMorgan and its third launch of 2015. According to a press release from the issuer, “JPEU is designed to serve as the foundation of a developed Europe equity portfolio, combining portfolio construction with stock selection in an effort to produce higher returns with lower volatility than traditional market cap-weighted indices.” WisdomTree (NASDAQ: WETF ) launches 2 U.S. Equity funds (12/23): The WisdomTree Dynamic Long/Short U.S. Equity Fund (NYSEMKT: DYLS ) is primarily a long ETF strategy that adds short exposure when needed to act as a market risk hedge. According to the fund’s homepage, the WisdomTree Dynamic Bearish U.S. Equity Fund (NYSEMKT: DYB ) “is able to be net short or market neutral when the market environment is considered poor or mixed, and can have a small net long position when the environment is deemed more attractive.” Alpha Architect adds an international alternative to QMOM (12/23): The MomentumShares U.S. Quantitative Momentum ETF (BATS: QMOM ), launched earlier this month, now has an international twin. The MomentumShares International Quantitative Momentum ETF (NYSEMKT: IMOM ) is focused on high quality momentum companies based in developed international markets. Dr. Wesley Gray commented in a press release : “We seek to deliver a high-conviction momentum approach backed by extensive academic and market research and a substantive knowledge of the manner in which irrational investor behavior creates mispricing. With IMOM, we can now give our investors access to this strategy with an international lens.” There were no fund closures for the weeks of December 7th, 14th and 21st, 2015 Have any other questions on ETFs or ETNs? Please comment below and I will try to clear things up. As an author and editor I have found that constructive feedback is the best way to grow. What you would like to see discussed in the future? How can I improve this series to meet reader needs? Please share your thoughts on this first edition of the ETF Update series in the comments section below. Have a view on something that’s coming up or a new fund? Submit an article.