ETF NEWS - ULTUMUS

First Trust Institutional ( FPEI)

Written by Ultumus | 22 August 2017

USA

First Trust will be listing a first-of-its-kind ETF that hoovers up American institutional preferred securities (FPEI). Preferred securities are unique to American tax law and are something of a hybrid between equity and debt. 

Like debts they pay a fixed interest rates to schedule; like equity they’re lower down the capital structure and pay out quarterly or annually.

 

First Trust already has an ETF that tracks preferred securities (FPE). What is different about FPEI - and what makes it a world first - is that it gobbles up institutional preferred securities. Institutional preferred securities are only available over the counter and in $100,000 chunks. (Retail preferred securities trade on exchange and in smaller pieces.)

 

FPEI will be actively managed to offset risk and offer investors exposure to an asset class that is typically only available to institutional investors. No listing date has been given.

 

Corporate action:

State Street's S&P Oil and Gas Equipment & Services ETF (XES) has received payment from a law suit against Weatherford International. As a result, the NAV of each share will be affected by $0.0093.