The ETF industry has gained huge popularity within just more than 20 years. Though the pace of rollout slackened a bit in 2016 as we saw close to 240 launches compared with approximately 300 in 2015, the issuances gathered steam again in 2017. More than 270 ETFs hit the market last year.
The ongoing year appears to ride on this solid momentum, already having about 130 new funds on board. However, the pace of rollout was especially sturdy in the first two months of the year. The second quarter saw only 49 ETF rollouts.
All these have taken the tally to 2,153 ETFs so far with an average market cap of $3,535.1 billion. Not only this, a considerable number of ETFs are in the pipeline, pointing to growing investor interest for exchange-traded products in this market.
The credit goes mainly to a wide range of innovative and fresh-themed products in the space, which hold investors’ attention despite the peaks and troughs of the market.
Below are five ETFs launched in Q2 that amassed a decent asset base within days of hitting the market.
Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) FI Enhanced Europe 50 ETN (FEUL) – $323.84 million
The note hit the market on May 10. The underlying STOXX Europe 50 USD Gross Return Index consists of 50 European blue-chip companies selected from within the STOXX Europe 600 Index. Its expense ratio is 1.00%.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) JUST U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF (NS:JUST) – $251.3 million
The 429-stock fund looks to offer exposure to large-cap U.S. equities. The stocks are screened on the basis of just business behavior as measured by JUST Capital. Factors like worker treatment, customer concerns and environmental impacts are taken into consideration while picking stocks for the underlying index.
The fund charges 20 bps in fees. Information Technology (26.9%), Financials (15.0%), Health Care (12.9%), Consumer Discretionary (12.7%) and Industrials (10.2%) have a double-digit weight in the fund. No stock accounts for about 4.2% of the basket.
Principal Investment Grade Corporate Active ETF (MI:IG) – $229.0 million
Marking its entry in mid-April, this is an actively managed exchange-traded fund that looks to attain its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in investment grade corporate bonds. The fund holds 153 securities in total and charges 26 bps in fees.
Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund XLC – $160.97 million
Making its debut in mid-June, the fund has already tasted huge success. The fund tracks the Communication Services Select Sector Index. The 26-securities fund puts about 40% of its weight in Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL). Internet Software & Services (46.4%) takes the top position of the fund while Media (26.9%) and Diversified Telecommunication Services (11.00%) take the next two spots (read: Get Greater Exposure to Communication With This Proposed ETF).
O’Shares Global Internet Giants ETF (MI:IG) – $51.7 million
The fund made to the market only in June. While Information Technology (74.26%) takes the lion’s share of the fund, Consumer Discretionary (24.65%) is responsible for the rest. The fund has a global exposure with the United States, taking up about 54.27% of the basket, followed by China (21.02%) and the United Kingdom (5.07%). The fund charges 48 bps in fees (read: A New Internet ETF Makes Inroads).
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PRIN-INV GRD CA (IG): ETF Research Reports
SPDR-COMM SV SS (XLC): ETF Research Reports
CS-FI EN EUR50 (FEUL): ETF Research Reports
OSHR-GL INTR GI (OGIG): ETF Research Reports
GS-JUST US LCE (JUST): ETF Research Reports
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Zacks Investment Research