New products and changes introduced over the last week include seven ETFs from First Trust; ; a dividend ETF from Amplify ETFs; two municipal bond ETFs from Van Eck;a collateralized fund from Neuberger Berman and two funds from Elkhorn.
Also, Barron's 400 ETF was rebalanced; STOXX Ltd. licensed an index to Recon Capital Partners; Oppenheimer Funds launched its (k)ustom Advisor Program; and eMoney Advisor announced a new fiduciary framework.
Here's more on those and other recent developments of interest to advisors:
1) First Trust Adds 7 ETFs
First Trust Advisors L.P. launched seven new ETFs based on the Nasdaq U.S. Smart Sector Indexes, which are modified factor-weighted indexes designed to provide exposure to U.S. economic sectors. Each has an expense ratio of 0.60%.
The ETFs are the First Trust Nasdaq Bank ETF (FTXO); First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF (FTXG); First Trust Nasdaq Oil & Gas ETF (FTXN); First Trust Nasdaq Pharmaceuticals ETF (FTXH); First Trust Nasdaq Retail ETF (FTXD); First Trust Nasdaq Semiconductor ETF (FTXL); and First Trust Nasdaq Transportation ETF (FTXR).
2) Amplify Adds Dividend ETF
Amplify ETFs added the Amplify YieldShares Prime 5 Dividend ETF (PFV), a portfolio of the five highest-ranked U.S. dividend ETFs, based on the Prime 5 U.S. Dividend ETF Index scoring and selection criteria in three categories: high dividend income, low share price volatility and low expenses.
PVF has a net expense ratio of 0.49%.
3) Van Eck Launches 2 Bond ETFs
Van Eck launched the VanEck Vectors AMT-Free 12-17 Year Intermediate Municipal Index ETF (ITML) and VanEck Vectors AMT-Free 6-8 Year Intermediate Municipal Index ETF (ITMS). Each has an expense ratio of 0.24%.
ITML replicates as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Bloomberg Barclays AMT-Free 12-17 Year Intermediate Continuous Municipal Index, while ITMS does the same with the Bloomberg Barclays AMT-Free 6-8 Year Intermediate Continuous Municipal Index.
4) Neuberger Berman Adds Collateralized PutWrite Fund
Neuberger Berman launched the Neuberger Berman U.S. Equity Index PutWrite Strategy Fund (NUPIX, NUPAX, NUPCX, NUPRX) to provide individual investors with exposure to equity market returns with less volatility.
The fund generates risk-adjusted returns through harvesting premiums from selling puts on U.S. equity indexes combined with the income potential of a conservatively managed collateral portfolio. It has a net expense ratio of 1.76%.
5) Elkhorn Adds Two Funds
Elkhorn Investments, LLC launched the Elkhorn Fundamental Commodity Strategy ETF (RCOM), based on Research Affiliates' fundamental research, and the Elkhorn Commodity Rotation Strategy ETF (DWAC), based on the relative strength methodology of Dorsey, Wright & Associates.
RCOM provides investment returns highly correlated to the Dow Jones RAFI Commodity Index by investing in exchange-traded commodity futures contracts and other commodity-linked instruments. Its expense ratio is 0.75%.
DWAC is a momentum-based, actively managed ETF that selects the five commodities with the highest relative strength from a universe of 21 commodities. Its expense ratio is 0.99%.
6) Barron's 400 ETF Rebalances
The Barron's 400 ETF (BFOR) completed its semiannual rebalancing, adding midcaps and housing stocks.
