Deutsche Brse is further expanding its segment for exchange-traded index funds on the pan-European Xetra trading platform and has admitted seven new ETFs issued by Barclays Global Investors to trading. Three of the new iShares ETFs are based on bond indices, the other four on equities.
The iShares JPMorgan $ Emerging Markets Bond tracks the performance of the JPMorgan EMBI Global Core Index. The index is comprised exclusively of US-dollar-denominated foreign currency bonds issued by emerging markets and developing countries.
The iShares € Covered Bond offers investors the opportunity of participating in the performance of the Markit iBoxx Euro Covered Index. The index contains euro-denominated corporate bonds with an outstanding volume of at least €1 billion, a minimum residual maturity of one year and an AA or AAA rating. At present, the index is comprised of corporate bonds from Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and Spain.
The iShares Global Inflation-Linked Bond, which tracks the performance of the Barclays World Government Inflation-Linked Bond Index, offers investors the opportunity to hedge against inflation risks. The index charts the performance of the major global inflation-linked bond markets worldwide. The following countries are currently represented in the index: France, Italy, Germany, Greece, the UK, Sweden, the USA, Canada, Australia and Japan.
The following three equity ETFs focus on the performance of small-caps.
The iShares S&P Small Cap 600 tracks the total return performance of the S&P Small Cap 600 Index. The index comprises 600 US small-caps, thus covering three to 4% of US market capitalization. Relatively speaking, the index is broadly diversified as the ten largest companies only account for 5% of the index volume.
The iShares MSCI Japan Small Cap tracks the total return performance of the MSCI Japan Small Cap Index. The aim of the index is to cover 40% of each industry sector. The equities must be traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and have a market capitalization of between USD 200 and 1,500 million.
The iShares MSCI AC Far East Ex-Japan Small Cap tracks the total return performance of the MSCI AC Far East Ex-Japan Small Cap Index. The index charts the performance of small-caps in the following countries: China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.
The iShares S&P Emerging Markets Infrastructure, which is based on the S&P Emerging Markets Infrastructure Index, has also been newly listed. The index contains the 30 largest companies that participate in the development of up-and-coming economies and specialize in the advancement of infrastructure in emerging market countries. Equities from the energy, transport and utilities sectors are included. The largest countries in the fund are China, Russia and Brazil.
The product offering on Xetra in the XTF segment currently comprises a total of 420 exchange-traded index funds, making it the largest offering of all European stock exchanges. This selection, together with an average monthly trading volume of over €10 billion, makes Deutsche Brse’s XTF segment Europe’s trading venue for ETFs.
D.C.