New products and changes introduced over the last week include an oil refiners-focused ETF from Van Eck; two ETFs from Compass EMP; four leveraged ETFs from Direxion; four indexes from Eurekahedge and the Chicago Board Options Exchange; and a liquid strategies business from Fort Rock Asset Management and Gemini Hedge.
Also, RISCO Insurance Brokerage announced an insurance product for chief compliance officers; Guardian added a qualifying longevity annuity contract (QLAC); Jackson added a lifetime benefit option and a proprietary index; and financial academic Martijn Cremers launched a website to provide advisors, consultants and investors access to Active Share.
Here are the latest developments of interest to advisors:
1) Van Eck Adds Oil Refiners ETF
Van Eck Global launched the Market Vectors Oil Refiners ETF (CRAK), which seeks to replicate as closely as possible the price and yield performance of the Market Vectors Global Oil Refiners Index (MVCRAKTR), before fees and taxes. In order to be included in the index, companies must generate at least 50% of their revenues from crude oil refining and meet certain size and liquidity requirements.
CRAK has a gross expense ratio of 0.64% and a net expense ratio of 0.59%, which is capped contractually until May 1, 2017.
2) Compass EMP Launches Two ETFs
Victory Capital, which recently acquired Compass EMP, introduced two ETFs: the Compass EMP International 500 Volatility Weighted Index ETF (CIL) and the Compass EMP International High Dividend 100 Volatility Weighted Index ETF (CID). The ETFs track the CEMP Volatility Weighted Indexes.
3) Direxion Adds Four Leveraged ETFs
Direxion launched four leveraged ETFs: the Direxion Daily Homebuilders & Supplies Bull 3X Shares (NAIL), Direxion Daily Homebuilders & Supplies Bear 3X Shares (CLAW), Direxion Daily Regional Banks Bull 3X Shares (DPST) and Direxion Daily Regional Banks Bear 3X Shares (WDRW).
NAIL seeks to achieve 300% of the daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Home Construction Index; CLAW seeks 300% of its inverse, or -300%. DPST and WDRW do the same, respectively, for the daily performance of the Solactive U.S. Regional Bank TR Index.
4) Eurekahedge, CBOE Launch Indexes
Eurekahedge and the CBOE introduced four Volatility Indexes that measure the performance of hedge funds employing volatility-based investment strategies. The indexes were created to meet the demands of institutional hedge fund investors seeking more representative benchmarks that reflect the goals of distinct volatility-based strategies.
