Tag Archives: gender

Hot Launches

By Jeff Tjornehoj Click to enlarge With just $23.9 billion in net inflows this year, exchange-traded products (ETPs) are having their slowest start since the first five months of 2010 when only $18.7 billion in net inflows were made. But the industry continues to launch new products anyway and through this week (May 18) another 88 products have been unveiled. We took a look to see which ones have had the best luck attracting cash. Through May 18 the fastest-growing ETP is the SPDR SSGA Gender Diversity Index ETF (NYSEARCA: SHE ) , which tracks a market-cap weighted index of large U.S. companies that that exhibit gender diversity in their senior leadership positions; it’s attracted $264 million this year. Not too far behind in the asset race, the WisdomTree Dynamic Currency Hedged International Equity Fund (BATS: DDWM ) has brought in $238 million. This fund holds a basket of dividend-weighted stocks headquartered outside of the U.S. and Canada and dynamically hedges foreign currency exposure for U.S. dollar investors. While three others have managed to accumulate $50 million in assets so far, the rest of this year’s launches are still waiting for investors to find them: the remaining 81 launches this year collectively hold $700 million or just as much as these five.

Successful ETF Launches Of Q1

The ETF industry is growing by leaps and bounds irrespective of whether the markets are on a bull or bear run. Thanks go largely to unique strategies, creativity, transparency, diversification benefits, enhanced tax competences, low turnover and low cost. In fact, ETFs are now considered as a preferred investment vehicle across the globe over mutual funds and hedge funds. U.S. ETFs have gathered about $2.2 billion of capital so far in 2016, as per etf.com . Though it is much lower than $59 billion inflows seen in the year-ago period, both existing and new issuers remain active in binging innovative products to the market. About 37 ETFs have been launched in the first quarter, taking the total number of ETFs to 1,863 and total assets to over $2.1 billion. Below, we highlight four ETFs that have gathered maximum attention from investors and have a huge potential to dominate the market in the coming months. SPDR SSGA Gender Diversity Index ETF (NYSEARCA: SHE ) Several researches found that companies that have female employees in the top brass have a tendency to outperform the market. As per the latest study from market index provider MSCI , companies with boardrooms featuring “strong female leadership” have generated 36.4% greater return on equity since 2009 than male-dominated companies. A new study by Quantopian, a Boston-based trading platform, has revealed that companies with female CEOs in the Fortune 1000 generated 226% better returns than the S&P 500 over the past 12 years (read: Women Leaders ETFs Head to Head: WIL vs. SHE ). Given the long history of outperformance, investors have shown their eagerness to add female-centric companies to their portfolio. This is easily depicted by the successful debut of SHE, which has attracted nearly $265 million in assets since its inception on International Women’s Day. It is the most popular ETF launch of Q1. The fund offers exposure to the companies that have managed to recruit and retain women in leadership positions by tracking the SSGA Gender Diversity Index. Holding 140 stocks in its basket, it is moderately concentrated in the top firms with each holding less than 6.6% share. In terms of sector, financials, healthcare, information technology, consumer discretionary, and industrials occupy the top five positions with double-digit exposure each. The fund charges 20 bps in annual fees and trades in solid volume of 310,000 shares a day on average. PowerShares DWA Tactical Multi-Asset Income Portfolio (NASDAQ: DWIN ) Amid heightened uncertainty and volatility, investors are seeking to employ strategies that could fetch higher returns with lower risk to their portfolio. This has raised the appeal for multi-asset ETFs, which offer huge diversification benefits by investing across different asset classes having low correlations with each other. These products aim to provide a high level of current income with stability and potential for long-term appreciation while they simultaneously avoid the downside risk of specific asset classes (read: Multi-Asset ETFs to Counter Volatility ). As a result, DWIN has become extremely popular among investors in its first month of debut having amassed $35.5 million in AUM. It is a fund of five funds and tracks the Dorsey Wright Multi-Asset Income Index, which seeks to capitalize on seven different income-producing market segments including corporate bonds, emerging market debt, dividend stocks, MLPs, REITs, and preferred shares based on relative strength and current yield criteria. Currently, each of the five ETFs in the basket accounts for around 20% of the assets, making the portfolio highly diversified. The fund is quite expensive, charging 69 bps in fees and expenses while volume is light at around 40,000 shares. ETRACS 2xMonthly Leveraged S&P MLP Index ETN Series B (NYSEARCA: MLPZ ) This is a leveraged ETN targeting the MLP corner of the broad energy segment. It delivers twice (2x or 200%) the returns of the monthly performance of the S&P MLP Index. Launched on February 8, the note is catching investors’ eye amid wild swings in oil prices. This is because most MLPs, which are engaged in the processing and transportation of energy commodities such as natural gas, crude oil, and refined products, are best positioned to withstand the decline in oil prices and be the major beneficiaries of an oil boom in the long term. These have relatively consistent and predictable cash flows, making them safer and less risky than other plays in the broader energy space. Additionally, the leveraged factor tacked on it is encouraging investors to make big gains on quick turns in oil prices. MLPZ has gathered about $34.9 million in its asset base since its inception but trades in light volume of about 30,000 shares. Expense ratio comes in at 0.95%. ETRACS 2xMonthly Leveraged Alerian MLP Infrastructure Index ETN Series B (NYSEARCA: MLPQ ) MLPQ is also a leveraged MLP ETN launching on February 8 and providing two times exposure but tracks the Alerian MLP Infrastructure Index. It saw slightly lower inflows of $34.7 million and even lower average daily volumes than MLPZ. However, it charges lower fees by 10 bps. Link to the original post on Zacks.com

ETF Update: March Came In Like A Lion, Will It End Like A Lamb?

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. This was a relatively slow couple of week for launches, or maybe it was just the first time in a while that closures outnumbered launches. I’m starting to worry that my prediction from October of 2000 trading ETFs by June was maybe a bit of a reach. My March Madness bracket is already shot as well, so it wouldn’t be the first time I made an outlandish call. There is still time, but if we are going to have more than a 100 launches in the next two months, I might need to start stockpiling coffee. Fund launches for the week of March 7th, 2016 SSgA launches a gender diversity fund (3/8): On International Women’s Day, we saw the launch of the SPDR SSgA Gender Diversity Index ETF (NYSEARCA: SHE ), a well-timed launch if ever there was. This fund the largest 1,000 U.S. listed companies that have significant gender diversity in the ranks of their senior leadership. “This fund empowers investors to encourage more gender diverse leadership and support better long-term social and economic outcomes in support of gender diversity,” said Kristi Mitchem, executive vice president and head of the Americas Institutional Client Group for SSGA in a press release . PureFunds introduces 2 niche technology funds (3/9): The PureFunds Drone Economy Strategy ETF (NYSEARCA: IFLY ) tracks the Reality Shares Drone Index, which includes companies that manufacture, supply and/or utilize drone technology. The PureFunds Video Game Tech ETF (NYSEARCA: GAMR ) will focus on tracking companies that provide the software and hardware for the video gaming industry, including firms that are not directly related to the industry, but do play a role in its success. This is not PureFunds’ first step into a sub-sector technology fund, as the PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF (NYSEARCA: HACK ) has gained 733.96M in assets under management since its launch in November 2014. Invesco PowerShares rolls out a new fund of funds ETF (3/10): The PowerShares DWA Tactical Multi-Asset Income Portfolio (NASDAQ: DWIN ) is an income-focused fund that will track other ETFs (mainly PowerShares funds) utilizing an index from Dorsey Wright. According to the DWIN homepage, “the Index is designed to select investments from a universe of income strategies with the criteria for inclusion based on a combination of relative strength and current yield.” The current holdings are the PowerShares High Yield Equity Dividend Achievers Portfolio (NYSEARCA: PEY ), the PowerShares Preferred Portfolio (NYSEARCA: PGX ), the PowerShares Build America Bond Portfolio (NYSEARCA: BAB ), the PowerShares Global Short Term High Yield Bond Portfolio and the PowerShares Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt Portfolio (NYSEARCA: PCY ). Fund launches for the week of March 14th, 2016 First Trust launches a follow-up fund for FV (3/18): The First Trust Dorsey Wright Focus 5 ETF (NASDAQ: FV ) has gained over $4.5B in assets under management since launching in March 2014, so it comes as no surprise that First Trust decided to launch a similar fund with a twist. Like the first fund, the First Trust Dorsey Wright Dynamic Focus 5 ETF (NASDAQ: FVC ) is designed to provide targeted exposure to the five First Trust sector and industry-based ETFs that DWA believes offer the greatest potential to outperform the other ETFs in the selection universe. However, the fund also has the option for risk management via cash equivalents represented by 1- to 3-month U.S. At its launch, roughly 50% of the fund was made of equity ETF holdings. Fund closures for the weeks of March 7th and 14th, 2016 Recon Capital FTSE 100 ETF (NASDAQ: UK ) Precidian MAXIS Nikkei 225 Index ETF (NYSEARCA: NKY ) ProShares Managed Futures Strategy ETF (NYSEARCA: FUTS ) PowerShares KBW Capital Markets Portfolio ETF (NYSEARCA: KBWC ) PowerShares KBW Insurance Portfolio ETF (NYSEARCA: KBWI ) PowerShares China A – Share Portfolio ETF (NYSEARCA: CHNA ) PowerShares Fundamental Emerging Markets Local Debt Portfolio ETF (NYSEARCA: PFEM ) 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. Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.