State Street Launches Preferred Stock ETF
September 17, 2009

SAN DIEGO (ETFguide.com) - State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) has just launched the SPDR Wells Fargo Preferred Stock ETF (NYSEArca: PSK).

The new fund is linked to the Wells Fargo Hybrid and Preferred Securities Aggregate Index, which includes around 160 securities.

Preferred stock represents partial ownership in a company, however, shareholders usually do not have voting rights, and similar to bonds, the primary source of return is usually generated by a fixed payment – a  dividend that must be paid out before dividends to common stockholders.

PSK’s underlying index includes non-convertible preferred securities listed on the NYSE or NYSE Arca that have a par amount of $25; are rated investment grade by Moody's Investors Service, Inc. or Standard & Poor's Ratings Services; and have a minimum monthly trading volume during each of the last six months of at least 250,000 trading units. 

“The SPDR Wells Fargo Preferred Stock ETF provides financial advisors and investors with improved access to the benefits of this unique asset class, which include high yields and a low correlation to both bonds and common stock,” said Anthony Rochte, senior managing director at State Street Global Advisors. “Developed in response to investor demand, the SPDR Wells Fargo Preferred Stock ETF is based on an index that offers a level of diversification that is unmatched by other benchmarks in this asset class.”

PSK’s annual expense ratio is 0.45 percent.

Other ETF Launches
The Emerging Global Shares Dow Jones Emerging Markets Financials Titans Index Fund (NYSEArca: EFN) has just debuted. The financial fund is the fourth ETF from Emerging Global Advisors and it’ll be benchmarked to 30 global financial stocks selected by Dow Jones. EFN’s net annual expense ratio is 0.85%.

Trading for the AdvisorShares Dent Tactical ETF (NYSEArca: DENT) began yesterday. The DENT ETF has the flexibility of investing in foreign or domestic securities in multiple asset classes.

The ETF is sponsored by AdvisorShares and invests in other ETFs based upon the firm’s proprietary research. H.S. Dent Investment Management is a sub-advisor to the fund. DENT’s annual expense ratio is 1.59 percent and it includes the fees for portfolio’s underlying ETFs.