USA
ProShares lists S&P 500 Bond ETF
ProShares is listing an ETF that invests in the investment-grade bonds of S&P 500 companies. The ProShares S&P 500 Bond ETF (SPXB) will do this by tracking the S&P 500/Market Access Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index, which compiles the corporate debt issues by S&P 500 companies and their subsidiaries.
From the 5000 bonds issued by S&P 500 companies, bonds must meet the following criteria to qualify for this index:
- Be US-issued;
- Maturity over 1 year;
- Had a maturity at the time of issuance of at least 2.5 years;
- A minimum par amount of $750 million.
Bonds that satisfy this criteria are ranked on liquidity, with the most 1000 liquid bonds included in the index. Index weight is determined by market value. Rebalancings occur monthly.
Switzerland
UBS lists Australia tracker
UBS has listed an ETF to track the world’s best cricket nation. The UBS Irl ETF plc - MSCI Australia UCITS ETF (AUHEUA) will track the MSCI Australia index rather than the ASX 200, the index most used in Australia. AUHEUA tilts heavily towards the Commonwealth Bank, granting 21% of its weight to that company. The Commonwealth Bank is Australia’s former central bank which was fully privatised in 1991. It remains the country’s biggest company.
Canada
BMO lists communications and media tracker
The Bank of Montreal, Canada’s third-largest ETF issuer after BlackRock and Vanguard, is listing a new ETF that targets the communications and media industries. The BMO Global Communications Index ETF (COMM) will track the Solactive Media and Communications Index, which looks at global companies in this sector and weights them by market capitalisastion.
Corporate Action:
ETF Securities sells US division to Aberdeen Standard
ETF Securities has sold off its US ETF division to Aberdeen Standard for an undisclosed sum. ETFS US has almost $3bn assets under management under 8 products. More information is available here.
State Street benchmark changes:
State Street is changing the benchmark indexes for two of its US-listed fixed income products. SPTS will now track the Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Year U.S. Treasury Index. And ITE will now track the Bloomberg Barclays 3-10 Year U.S. Treasury Index. More information is available here.
