Underrated Benchmark Indexes and
Market for International ETFs
Heats Up
June 22,
2007
SAN DIEGO (ETFguide.com) -
Half way through the year international stocks are on a tear and investors can't
seem to get enough.
Today, State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) launched
the SPDR S&P BRIC 40 ETF (Ticker: BIK) on the American Stock Exchange (Amex).
The fund's index includes 40 leading companies,
representing the largest and most liquid securities in Brazil, Russia, India,
and China. All index holdings trade in developed market exchanges (Hong Kong
Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and NYSE).
The new BRIC ETF from State Street will compete
head-to-head with Claymore's BNY BRIC ETF (Ticker: EEB), which has similar
attributes but charges a higher expense ratio of 0.60 percent. In contrast, the
SPDR BRIC has a ratio of 0.40 percent, which could cause assets to defect from
the Claymore ETF.
“The launch of SPDR S&P
BRIC 40 ETF reflects the significant interest that we are seeing from financial
advisors and institutional investors in this particular segment of emerging
markets,” said James Ross, senior managing director of
State Street Global Advisors. “In providing easy, low
cost, precise exposure to the BRIC countries, it helps to diversify and expand
our offering of emerging markets ETFs.”
State Street has been rounding out its international
fund lineup over the past few months. During the first quarter, the company
introduced six regionally focused emerging market funds, including the SPDR S&P
China ETF (Ticker: GXC) which targets white hot Chinese stocks. The fund has
gained almost 12 percent over the past month alone.
In related news, Lisle, IL-based PowerShares is
planning to launch four international ETFs on the New York Stock Exchange on
June 25th. Each of the funds will follow FTSE Research Affiliates designed
indexes, which rank stocks according to their corporate fundamentals.
--PowerShares Europe Portfolio (NYSE: PEF)
--PowerShares Japan Portfolio (NYSE: PJO)
--PowerShares Asia Pacific ex-Japan Portfolio (NYSE: PAF)
--PowerShares Developed Markets ex-U.S. Portfolio (NYSE: PXF)
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