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Van Eck Debuts Mortgage REIT Income ETF
August 19, 2011
Catherine Epperson
Van Eck Global added the Market Vectors Mortgage REIT Income ETF (NYSEArca: MORT) to its ETF roster.
MORT tracks the Market Vectors Global Mortgage REITs Index, a capitalization-weighted Index that includes companies primarily involved in the purchase or service of commercial or residential mortgage loans or mortgage-related securities.
“Yields from mortgage REITs have been higher in recent years than those provided by equity REITs and a number of other income-oriented products.” said Jan Van Eck, Principal at Van Eck Global. “We’re pleased to bring out MORT, an ETF which we think could be a valuable portfolio building tool for yield-focused investors in this low-yield environment.”
The new fund joins the family of 35 Market Vectors and is the first ETF in its lineup to focus on mortgage REITs.
The annual expense ratio for MORT is 0.40%.
Three New iShares ETFs
In related news, BlackRock introduced the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Small Cap Index Fund (NYSEArca: EEMS), iShares S&P Target Date 2045 (NYSEArca: TZW) and iShares S&P Target Date 2050 (NYSEArca: TZY).
EEMS is benchmarked to the MSCI Emerging Markets Small Cap Index which is a float-adjusted market cap weighted index that is rebalanced quarterly. The index's top three country holdings as of July 31, 2011, are Taiwan (19.86%), Korea (17.35%) and China (16.46%). The top three country sector exposure weightings are consumer discretionary (17.09%), industrials (16.90%) and financials (16.59%).
The annual expense ratio for EEMS is 0.69%.
TZW and TZY provide a continuation of the existing iShares target series products, which are designed to provide a portfolio mix of iShares ETFs for retirement focused investors. The two funds are benchmarked to the S&P Target Date 2045/2050 indices and they provide exposure to a diversified menu of asset classes. The indices are rebalanced monthly, while on a yearly basis S&P conducts a survey of target date funds and derives an allocation strategy for the indices. S&P uses iShares ETFs to track each asset class.
Both iShares target date funds charge annual expenses of 0.32%.
In Other ETF News
Emerging Global Advisors launched the EGShares India Consumer ETF (NYSEArca: INCO).
The new fund tracks the Indxx India Consumer Index, a free float market capitalization-weighted Index that focuses on the performance of consumer companies in India.
According to the press release, INCO is the first of several India-focused sector funds that Emerging Global Advisors plans to launch this year.
“INCO is designed for investors who believe that India will experience significant consumer spending growth and want access to consumer companies that may be well-positioned to benefit from that growth,” said Robert C. Holderith, EGA’s founder and president.
The annual expense ratio for INCO is 0.89%. |
