New Listings
Amundi has expanded its range of ETFs listed in Switzerland with six new funds. This brings the provider’s total listings in the country up to 20 ETFs, and the firm has plans for further new additions in the weeks ahead. The six ETFs are all inverse Eurozone government bond funds, which had been first launched in France in January.
HSBC acted quickly following the expiration of S&P’s exclusive licensing agreement with iShares, launching an S&P 500 ETF in London. The fund will track the total return index and will charge a total expense ratio of 0.15% annually. Lyxor has also signed a licensing agreement with S&P and will soon debut its own ETF tracking the index.
db x-trackers continues to expand the distribution of its leveraged ETFs. Previously available on the Frankfurt and Milan exchanges, Deutsche Bank has now listed these seven ETFs in London. The funds provide investors with leveraged exposure to the DAX, the FTSE 100, the EURO STOXX 50 and the S&P 500. Annual fees range from 0.35 to 0.70%.
db x-trackers has also listed ten ETFs in Stockholm. The new listings range from some of the same leveraged funds available elsewhere in Europe, to sector funds tracking the STOXX 600 Oil & Gas index and its inverse cousin, to international benchmarks like the MSCI Asia ex Japan index and MSCI Pacific ex Japan index. Deutsche Bank now has 31 ETFs listed on Stockholm’s NASDAQ OMX exchange.
Best and Worst Performers for the week of May 10 – 14
The big news this past week was the massive aid package for Greece, which at least temporarily quelled investor’s concerns about the country’s sovereign debt. However, it did not have the same positive effect on the country’s equity market, as evidenced by the performance of the ALPHA ETF FTSE Athex 20 fund. Precious metals had a good week as investors showed continued concern about the long-term future of the Euro. The Chinese market was hit by worries over higher interest rates which could potentially slow the country’s red-hot economy. The week’s fall put the country’s stock market down 20% from its peak, officially in bear market territory.
