Index IQ introduces M&A ETF, PIMCO Launches a New Bond Fund November 18, 2009
SAN DIEGO (ETFguide.com) – PIMCO launched a new ETF that will compete directly with money market funds. The PIMCO Short Maturity Strategy Fund (NYSEArca: MINT) is linked to the Citigroup 3 month Treasury Bill Index, representing monthly return equivalents of yield averages of the last three month Treasury Bill issues.
MINT will primarily invest in short duration investment grade debt securities.The average portfolio duration will vary based on PIMCO’s economic forecast, but will normally not exceed one year.
MINT is an actively managed fund intended to be a higher yielding alternative to money market funds.
As such, an alternative to money market funds, MINT is not looking to compete directly with short-term Treasury funds, such as the iShares Short Treasury Bond (NYSEArca: SHV) or Vanguard Short-Term Bond Fund (NYSEArca: BSV).
MINT has an annual expense ratio of 0.34%.
INDEX IQ introduces M&A ETF
This week has already seen a number of unique ETFs come into the market place. The IQ ARB Merger Arbitrage ETF (NYSEArca: MNA), linked to the IQ ARB Merger Arbitrage Index, is another one. MNA is the first ETF to invest (long and/or short) in global companies that are potential takeover candidates.
The new ETF seeks to achieve capital appreciation by investing in global companies for which there has been a public announcement of a takeover by an acquirer. This differentiated approach is based on a passive strategy of owning certain announced takeover targets, with the goal of generating returns that are representative of global merger arbitrage activity. The index also includes short exposure to global securities as a partial equity market hedge.
MNA sports a 76.98% country allocation to the United States, followed by 8.34% for Australia, 3.94% for Canada, 1.04% for the United Kingdom, and .08% for Japan.
Healthcare and Consumer Staples are the two top sectors and account for 39.19%. It is notable that the current cash position is 19.49%.
