ETF News: May 2-6
ETF Securities May be Seeking Flotation
Financial News reported that ETF Securities has retained Citigroup and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to discuss its strategic options—including a possible initial public offering (IPO). While the firm is not short on cash, an IPO would provide current investors, including majority-owner and founder Graham Tuckwell a chance to monetise their holdings. Should it go through with a listing, ETF Securities would be just the second publicly traded pure-play exchange-traded product provider, joining US-based ETF provider Wisdom Tree.
New Launches
ETF Securities has expanded its offering of physically-backed industrial metals exchange-traded commodities (ETCs). The firm launched the ETFS Physical Aluminum, ETFS Physical Lead, and ETFS Physical Zincs ETCs on the London Stock Exchange last Tuesday. The three ETCs join ETFS Physical Copper, ETFS Physical Nickel, and ETFS Physical Tin, which were launched last August. As we highlighted in our December article, “Much ado About Copper” it is important that prospective investors understand the all-in carrying costs for these products (as investors are responsible for storage and insurance fees in addition to the product’s management fee) as well as how they might perform versus an investment in futures contracts tied to these metals.
New Listings
HSBC listed a pair of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the Euronext Paris exchange. The HSBC MSCI World ETF will trade in euros on the Paris exchange. The physically-backed fund levies a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.35%. The HSBC MSCI Turkey ETF is also a physical replication fund, trades in euros, and has a TER of 0.60%.
Best and Worst Performers
The list of last week’s best performers was dominated by ETPs tracking volatility, as the broad sell-off in equity and commodity markets boosted market expectations for future volatility. The worst performers of the week were generally those products tied to energy prices. The rebound in the US dollar and the wider flight from commodities in the prior week led to large declines in energy prices.