Corporate Bond ETF Launched Ahead of Rate Rise

ETF TIMES: iShares last week launched the first ETF to track short-dated sterling-denominated corporate bonds on the LSE

Morningstar Equity Analysts 5 April, 2011 | 5:07PM
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New Launches: March 28 - April 1
Just as expectations of a rate rise from the Monetary Policy Committee are heating up, on March 30, iShares launched its iShares Markit iBoxx £ Corporate Bond 1-5 ETF on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The ETF is the first to track short-dated sterling-denominated corporate bonds. The physically replicated fund uses sampling techniques to mimic the performance of the Markit iBoxx £ Corporate Bond 1-5 Index, levies a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.20%, and is currently seeking UK reporting/distributor status. The new ETF could be used as a tactical tool to execute the sort of duration-shortening techniques we recently highlighted in an article on UK interest rates.

HSBC last week launched a trio of ETFs tracking single-country emerging market benchmarks on the LSE. The funds track the performance of the MSCI Indonesia, MSCI Taiwan, and MSCI Malaysia Indices. All three ETFs are physical replication funds that plan to distribute dividends semi-annually. Each levies a TER of 0.60%, which, in the case of the ETFs tracking the MSCI Indonesia and MSCI Taiwan indices, is the lowest amongst all competing products. All three ETFs are seeking UK reporting fund status. The HSBC MSCI Indonesia ETF is dwarfed in size by db x-trackers MSCI Indonesia TRN Index ETF (XMID), which is a synthetic-replication fund, levying a TER of 0.65%, and capitalising dividends. It is worth noting that the LSE listing of the db x-trackers fund is very thinly traded, especially relative to its Xetra and Singapore SGX-ST listings. The iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF (IDTW) is the largest and most liquid amongst ETFs listed on the LSE that are linked to the Taiwanese equity benchmark. Meanwhile, the db x-trackers MSCI Malaysia TRN ETF (LG6) is the only direct competitor to the corresponding HSBC product on the LSE.

New Listings: March 28 - April 1
Amundi listed its Amundi ETF MSCI Nordic, Amundi ETF MSCI Emerging Markets, Amundi ETF Global Emerging Bond Markit iBoxx, and Amundi ETF AAA Govt Bond EuroMTS on the Borsa Italiana. The new listings bring the total number of Amundi ETFs listed on the Milan exchange to 64.

UBS ETFs listed its HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index SF – (CHF) A-acc and HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index SF – (GBP) A-acc ETFs on Xetra. US dollar- and euro-denominated versions of the fund were originally listed late last year. For a more detailed look at hedge fund ETFs, please see our recent article Hedge Fund ETFs Under the Microscope.

Best and Worst Performers: March 28 - April 1
The list of the week’s best-performing exchange-traded products (ETPs) was dominated by exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) tracking the performance of grains, and corn in particular. The US Department of Agriculture reported last week that US corn inventories were 15% below year-ago levels, reaching a four-year low.

ETFs tracking Greek equities were amongst the worst performers last week, as Greece’s ASE Index lost 5.9%. The country was under the microscope once again last week as S&P slashed the credit ratings for four of its banks and elevated its risk rating for the entire banking system, citing “heightened economic and industry risks for the Greek financial system.”

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