Europe
In another sign that covered call ETFs are coming into fashion, BMO has listed three new covered call ETFs in London, which offer investors exposure to American, British and European companies (ZWUS, ZWUK, ZWEU).
The ETFs will physically track the S&P 500, FTSE 100, and Euro Stoxx 50 in their local currencies and charge 30 basis points a year. An actively-managed covered call writing strategy will be used to give the funds’ extra income.
Swiss bank UBS has cross-listed an Asian exposure ETF into Germany, the UBS ETFs plc - MSCI AC Asia ex Japan SF UCITS ETF (UIQI). The fund tracks the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Index, which is made up of large and mid-cap companies across Asia, excluding Japan. The Asian economies the fund buys into include Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as developing economies such as Thailand and Indonesia.
Asia
India’s stock market is known for being highly volatile. But Mumbai-based issuer ICICI Prudential is trying to work around this. To this end, the company has launched a new low volatility ETF, the ICICI Prudential Nifty Low Vol 30 iWIN ETF (INLV30I). The fund will buy stocks from large cap Indian companies, chosen for low volatility and attempt to overcome Indian investors’ reluctance to hold ETFs long term.