Tag Archives: etftrends.com

New ETF Combines Dividends And Renewable Energy Using A YieldCo

MarketsMuse blog update profiles a new ETF, Global X YieldCo Index ETF (NasdaqGM: YLCO), which launched, Thursday, May 28, 2015. The ETF, YLCO, comes from a new kind of asset called YieldCos that aim to provide a steadier income to investors through assets from the renewable energy industry. YLCO tracks the Indxx Global YieldCo Index, which is home to 20 stocks that are a part of nearly 65.7% of the ETF, YLCO ‘s weight. Some of these stocks include: 

  • TerraForm Power (NasdaqGS: TERP)
  • Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners (NYSE: BEP)
  • SuneEdison (NasdaqGS: SUNE)
  • First Solar (NasdaqGS: FSLR)

This MarketsMuse blog update is courtesy of ETFTrends’ Todd Shriber and his article, “Dividends and Renewable Energy? There’s an ETF for That“, with an excerpt below. 

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Renewable energy stocks and dividends are not often thought of as synonymous, but an emerging asset class is changing that.

YieldCos are income-generating assets from the renewable energy space that look to deliver steady income to investors. Spun off as fully developed assets from parent companies, such as solar firms and wind farm operators, yieldcos are comparable to master limited partnerships (MLPs), an asset class that has been widely embraced by income investors in recent years.

A new ETF, the Global X YieldCo Index ETF (NasdaqGM: YLCO) helps investors access the burgeoning yieldcos asset class.

“YieldCos are formed when energy companies spin off fully developed assets, such as wind and solar farms, with long term contracts and an objective of returning cash flows to shareholders. Market capitalization for the YieldCo industry currently stands at $39 billion. With 11 announced IPOs in the pipeline, it has become an increasingly popular vehicle for energy firms,” according to a statement issued by Global X.

 To continue reading about this new ETF, YLCO, and the things it could do, click here.

Coal ETF’s Burns Dim

While many are looking to move away from coal as a power source, such as China, the coal ETF, Market Vectors-Coal ETF (NYSEArca: KOLand recently launched coal ETF, GreenHaven Coal Fund (NYSEArca:TONS), have to continued to demonstrate that trend as their fires dim down to a mere dust.  This MarketsMuse update profiles the dim outlook two above listed coal ETFs are facing as countries explore other sources of power. This update is courtesy of ETFTrends’ Tom Lydon and his article, “Coal ETF Outlook Growing Dim” with an excerpt. 

ETFTrends-logo

Some bargain hunters may be looking at the downtrodden coal industry and related exchange traded funds as the market remains near historic lows. However, coal remains depressed for a reason.

Over the past three months, the Market Vectors-Coal ETF (NYSEArca: KOL), which tracks the coal industry, has declined 6.9%. Additionally, the recently launched GreenHaven Coal Fund (NYSEArca:TONS), which is designed to offer investors with exposure to daily changes in the price of coal futures contracts, has decreased 3.6%.

Some may be tempted to catch the falling knife as the economy still depends on coal to meet growing electricity needs. However, the other fundamental factors may weigh on the space.

To continue reading about these coal ETFs bleak outlook, click here

Nuveen Investments Has Returned To ETFs…Quietly

MarketsMuse blog update profiles asset manager Nuveen Investments quietly returning to the world of ETFs.  This MarketsMuse blog update is courtesy of ETFTrends Tom Lydon’s article, “Nuveen Tiptoes Back Into ETFs“, with an excerpt below. 

After departing the exchange traded funds business in 2002, Nuveen Investments has returned in quiet fashion. The Chicago-based firm said Monday shareholders of the Nuveen Long/Short Commodity Total Return Fund (NYSEArca: CTF), have approved the plan to convert the fund into open-ended exchange-traded fund (ETF). The conversion plan is also contingent on customary regulatory approvals, according to a statement. “The Annual Meeting of Shareholders for the Nuveen Diversified Commodity Fund (NYSE: CFD) has been adjourned to June 15, 2015, to allow additional solicitation of votes on the proposed plan to convert the fund into an ETF,” according to Nuveen. Nuveen said in December it was planning to convert CTF and CFD into ETFs. CFD invests in an array of commodity futures and forward contracts. As of the end of November, the mutual fund allocated a combined 26.5% of its weight to oil and gold,according to issuer data.

The fund’s annual expenses total 1.75%. To continue reading about Nuveen’s quiet return, click here.

Mining ETF Rises From The Ashes

MarketsMuse blog update profiles the SPDR Metals & Mining ETF that has recently performed very well over the past few months. When oil prices reached a new low in January it sent a ripple across other sectors including the metal and mining sectors. XME was trading at its lowest price since March 2009. Although the sector ETFs are still on their road to recovery, the ETF, XME, is showing drastic improvement compared to many others. This MarketsMuse blog update is courtesy of an ETFTrends’ article by Todd Shriber titled, “This ETF is Springing to Life“, with an excerpt below. 

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Mining stocks and the corresponding exchange traded funds have moved in fits and starts over the past few years. Unfortunately, there have been more fits than pleasantries, but the moribund industry could finally be putting in a legitimate bottom.

Though it is still down 27.5% over the past year, the SPDR Metals & Mining ETF (NYSEArca: XME) is up nearly 8% over the past month. That is a solid run for an ETF that started the year trading at its lowest levels since the first quarter of 2009. [Woes for a Mining ETF]

XME is meriting of consideration as some analysts believe the worst is behind the commodities space. Those were the sentiments of R.W. Baird when the research firm upgraded Dow component Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) and Joy Global (NYSE: JOY) to outperform on Monday, according to CNBC.

To continue reading about the rise of this mining ETF, click here.

Goldman Sachs Readies ETF Launch

MarketsMuse blog update profiles Goldman Sachs preparing for a launch of its own ETFs. Goldman Sachs is the largest U.S. investment bank and they are finally going to make the move to become a huge player in the ETF industry.  The firm has completed all its necessary paperwork with the SEC as of May 4th for its six ETFs. These six new ETFs include: Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta International Equity ETF (GSIE), Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Emerging Markets Equity ETF (GEM), Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Europe Equity ETF (GSEU), Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Japan Equity ETF (GSJY), Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF (GSLC) and the Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (GSSC). This MarketsMuse blog update is courtesy of ETFTrends’ Tom Lydon and his article, “Goldman ETFs Near Liftoff“, with an excerpt below. 

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Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), the largest U.S. investment bank, is getting closer to launching its own exchange traded funds.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission dated May 4, New York-based Goldman Sachs revealed tickers and fund managers for its six “ActiveBeta” ETFs as well as tickers for its five passively managed ETFs.

Among Goldman the managers for the ActiveBeta ETFs are “Steve Jeneste, a managing director most recently oversaw portfolio management of macro and multi-asset strategies. Another is Raj Garigipati, vice president, who most recently served as chief risk officer for Goldman’s QIS unit,” reports Chris Dieterich for Barron’s.

To continue reading about Goldman Sachs preparing  for the launch of its six “ActiveBeta” ETFs, click here.

 

The Real Driver Behind China ETF Action: Column A and Column B

MarketsMuse.com ETF update profiles the real driver behind the surge in China-focused exchange-traded funds courtesy of below extract from 28 April a.m. column by Todd Shriber of ETFtrends.com “Surprising Drivers of the A-Shares ETF Surge.”

It is not a secret that exchange traded funds holding Chinese equities, both A-shares trading on the mainland and Hong Kong-listed H-shares, have recently been delivering staggering returns.

Over the past month, the top 13 non-leveraged ETFs are all China funds, according to ETFScreen.com. That group includes 4 A-shares ETFs, an impressive number considering there are just seven such funds trading in the U.S. Year-to-date, seven of the top 11 non-leveraged ETFs are China funds, four of which hold A-shares.

Beijing-controlled companies have been driving the Shanghai Composite higher, creating a divergence between that benchmark index and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Composite Index. (See Dec 2014 ETFtrends.com for background)

“The explanation for this divergence revolves around State Owned Enterprises,” said Rareview Macro founder Neil Azous in a note out Monday. “The Shanghai Index is composed of ~68% SOE and ~32% non-SOE whereas the Shenzen Index is only 22% SOE and 78% non-SOE.”

Granted, it is just a small data set, but over the past week the SOE-heavy ASHR and PEK have performed in-line with the Deutsche X-trackers Harvest CSI 500 China A-Shares Small Cap Fund (NYSEArca: ASHS) as each have raced to all-time highs.

Azous notes that speculation about China’s plans to possibly reduced the number of SOEs via mergers has contributed to the rally. For example, there is speculation that PetroChina (NYSE: PTR) and China Petroleum & Chemical could be merged to create that country’s equivalent of Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM). Those stocks combine for almost 1% of ASHR’s weight.

For the entire article by ETFtrends.com Todd Shriber, please click here

Apple Low Sales Show In Tech ETFs

MarketsMuse blog update profiles iPhone company’s, Apple, lacking in sales even with the new iPhone 6 and the recent release of the iWatch, effecting the tech ETFs. This MarketsMuse blog update is courtesy of ETFTrends’ Todd Shriber’s article “Ahead of Earnings, no Love for Apple ETFs”, with an excerpt from ETFTrends below.

ETFTrends-logoApple (NasdaqGS: AAPL), the world’s largest company by market value, reports fiscal second-quarter earnings after the close of U.S. markets Monday with analysts expecting per share earnings of $2.16 on revenue of $56.1 billion.

Should the reported numbers be close to or in-line with those estimates, Apple’s second-quarter results will lag the $3.06 per share on sales of $74.6 billion reported in the fiscal first quarter, turning investors’ attention to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus sales, Apple Watch comments and the company’s plans to return capital shareholders.

Apple reinstituted its dividend in the third quarter of 2012 after a 17-year hiatus. Since reintroducing the payout at 37.8 cents per share per quarter, Apple’s dividend has grown at an impressive clip to 47 cents a share per quarter.

It is not a stretch to say few companies’ earnings reports are as closely monitored and scrutinized as Apple’s, but even with the fervor leading up to the iPad maker’s latest batch of quarterly results, investors have been shying away from exchange traded funds with hefty allocations to the stock.

To continue reading about the fall of Apple’s sales and the effects it has on tech ETFs from ETFTrends, click here.

Why Isn’t Chipotle (NYSE:CMG) Served In Consumer Market ETFs?

MarketsMuse.com ETF update is courtesy of exclusive reporting by Todd Shriber of ETFtrends.com with a tasty title:

No Burritos for ETF Investors as Funds Skimp on Chipotle

Todd Shriber, ETFtrends.com
Todd Shriber, ETFtrends.com

Shares of Chipotle (NYSE: CMG) have risen more than fivefold over the past five years. That performance and an almost $700 price tag solidify Chipotle’s status as storied, once-in-a-lifetime consumer discretionary growth stock on par with Netflix (NasdaqGS: NFLX) and Priceline (NasdaqGS: PCLN).

However, with Chipotle set to deliver its first-quarter earnings today after the close of U.S. markets, exchange traded fund investors are reminded of the difficulties of accessing the burrito maker’s shares via ETFs.

Just two ETFs feature Chipotle as a top 10 holding, according to S&P Capital IQ data. The PowerShares Dynamic Leisure and Entertainment Portfolio (NYSEArca: PEJ), which in the past has garnered weights of roughly 5% or more to Chipotle, currently does not own shares of the stock.

Lack of ETF access to Chipotle is punitive given the company’s penchant for delivering blow-out results.

“Consensus estimates call for EPS of $3.64, vs $2.64 a year earlier (+38%). The company has beat estimates in the past three quarters. Consensus for all-important comparable-store sales is +11.6%. This compares with with +16.1% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. The other metric to watch out for is gross margin – in the fourth quarter, food costs grew 110bps and held back margin progression,” said Mischler Financial Group analyst Neil Currie in a note out today.

“Regarding comp-store sales, we think there is some potential for consensus to be beat. While the consensus estimate would represent a two-year stack of +25.0%, similar to Q4, we think three-year stacks have proved an important metric for CMG. Based on this consensus, the three-year stack would be +26.0%. This compares with around +30.0% for the past three quarters. It is conceivable that CMG’s reported comp-store sales could reach the 14-15% mark on this basis,” adds Currie.

TO READ THE ENTIRE STORY FROM ETFTRENDS.COM, PLEASE CLICK HERE

ETFs Are Having A Record Breaking Year, Near $3 Trillion Mark

MarketsMuse blog update profiles the record breaking year ETFs have had. As investors become more comfortable with the idea of  using ETFs as an investment strategy, ETFs continue to become more and more popular. ETFs’ assets have grown at an exponential rate over last ten years. In fact, ten years ago ETF assets totaled $230 billion in the US and now we near the $3 trillion marker. This MarketsMuse update is courtesy of ETFTrends’ Tom Lydon’s article “ETF Industry Closing in on $3 Trillion” with an extract below. 

ETFTrends-logoExchange traded funds are becoming a household name as investors have been piling into the investment vehicle, expanding the global ETF market toward $3 trillion in assets.

After attracting an additional $36.1 billion, global ETFs saw $97.2 billion in inflows over the first quarter, or almost triple the total for the same quarter year-over-year. [ETFs Haul in $36.1 Billion in March]

As of the end of February, assets invested in exchange traded products, which include both ETFs and exchange traded notes, globally reached a new record high of $2.919 trillion.

“The global ETF/ETP industry had 5,632 ETFs/ETPs, with 10,902 listings, from 245 providers listed on 63 exchanges in 51 countries,” according to ETFGI’s Deborah Fuhr. “We expect the assets to break through the US$3 trillion milestone in the first half of 2015.”

To continue reading the article from ETFTrends, click here.

The Highly Anticipated Launch Of The Apple Watch Isn’t Reflecting In Its ETFs

What time is it? Time for you to a buy a watch, an Apple Watch that is. After the announcement of the Apple Watch this past Fall, consumers have been waiting to get their hands on this product. Understandably so, investors couldn’t wait the launch either. With prices for an Apple Watch ranging from $349-$17,000, it will most likely bring a good return on investment. However, as pre-orders have been coming in for the Apple Watch, the same can’t be said for ETFs heavy on shares of Apple. MarketsMuse blog update profiling the little excitement in Apple ETFs is courtesy of ETF Trends, Todd Shriber, with an extract from his article, “Apple Watch a Non-Event for Apple ETFs” below.

ETFTrends-logoApple (NasdaqGS: AAPL) is taking preorders for its much ballyhooed Apple Watch. Or was taking preorders.

Nearly of the models made available to U.S. consumers sold out in just six hours and it looks the April 24 availability date announced by the company at the Apple Watch unveiling event last month is getting pushed back. Perhaps as far out as the third quarter.

“Whether due to high demand or low supply, all models of Apple Watch have now almost entirely sold out with many slipping delivery date estimates in mere minutes of preorders opening. In the US, the 38 mm Stainless Steel Case with Black Classic Buckle is the only model still on offer with a ‘April 24th – May 8th’ shipping date,” reports9to5Mac.com.

Unveiling a new product with preexisting, pent-up demand is old hat for Apple and that might explain the lack of enthusiasm for the blowout preorders being displayed by exchange traded funds heavy on shares of Apple. Even shares of California-based Apple are trading slightly lower today.

To read the full article from ETF Trends’ Todd Shriber, click here.

ETF Land: Its All About the US Dollar

MarketsMuse ETF update profiles the most talked about topic: the US Dollar courtesy of extract below from March 25th coverage from Todd Shriber of ETFtrends.com. Here’s the snippet:

For over a year, exchange traded funds tracking the U.S. dollar have been the stars of the currency ETF group, but recent weakness in the greenback could prompt some investors to assess other currency opportunities.

Todd Shriber, ETFtrends.com
Todd Shriber, ETFtrends.com

Since topping on March 13, the PowerShares DB U.S. Dollar Index Bullish Fund (NYSEArca: UUP), the U.S. Dollar Index tracking ETF, and the actively managed WisdomTree Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Bullish Fund (NYSEArca: USDU) are off 3.6% and 3%, respectively.

The much maligned CurrencyShares Euro Currency Trust (NYSEArca: FXE) is up nearly 4.7% over that period and recent dollar weakness has gold ETFs, such as the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD), on six-day winning streaks. None of that means the dollar’s run is over. In fact, some market observers believe the recent pullback in the U.S. currency presents a buying opportunity. Continue reading

An ETF-only Exchange? BATS at Bat

They say you should always shoot for the moon and that is exactly what BATs exchange is doing. MarketMuse update profiles BATS exchange looks to hit it out of Nasdaq’s and the New York Stock Exchange’s parks. The ETF-only exchange out of Kansas City, BATS, is planning on becoming the number one ETF trading venue by 2020 which means passing both the Nasdaq and the NYSE. BATS. This MarketMuse update is courtesy of Tom Lydon’s article “BATS Looks to be Dominant ETF Exchange” on ETFTrends.com. An excerpt from the article is below.

ETFTrends-logo   Most exchange traded products in the U.S. trade on the New York Stock Exchange or the or the Nasdaq Global Market. That is not stopping Kansas City-based BATS Global Markets from the ambitious goal of being the largest U.S. ETF listing venue in three to five years.

“There was a total of 1,411 U.S.-domiciled ETFs at the end of 2014, according to the Investment Company Institute, with more than 1,000 listed by Intercontinental Exchange’s NYSE unit and the balance by Nasdaq OMX Group,” report John McCrank and Jessica Toonkel for Reuters.

To read the entire article from ETFTrends, click here

Risk Off or Risk On for Sweden ETF $EWD As Riksbank Takes Rates Deeper Into Negative Territory

MarketsMuse.com update profiling iShares MSCI Sweden ETF ($EWD) and a global macro view is courtesy of extract from March 18th coverage by ETFtrends.com’s Todd Shriber

Shares of the iShares MSCI Sweden ETF (NYSEArca: EWD) were modestly higher Wednesday after the Riksbank, the world’s oldest central bank, surprisingly took Sweden’s repo rate deeper into negative territory with a cut of 15 basis points to -0.25% from -0.1%

ETFTrends-logoSome of Sweden’s larger companies are struggling due to weak demand from Europe, the country’s largest export market, as the krona currency appreciated against the euro. However, lower central bank rates has helped stimulate household spending.

The Swedish central bank recently cut its benchmark rate below zero for the first time and started buying bonds to combat deflationary pressures. However, if the krona continues to strengthen, the Riksbank could be forced to implement more aggressive measures. [Loose Monetary Policy Could Lift Sweden ETF]

In its efforts to stimulate inflation, Riksbank may not be done employing accommodative monetary policy.

“For us, we will pay close attention to the door they opened to launching a scheme to channel monetary support directly to corporations via lending. While no details were provided for the second meeting, we have for some time believed that a funding-for-lending program (FLS), a measure already used by the Bank of England, or a public-private investment program (PPIP), a liquidity tool used by the US Federal Reserve, are transmission mechanisms that have much greater and immediate impacts on the real economy than quantitative easing,” said Rareview Macro founder Neil Azous in a note out Wednesday. Continue reading

China ETF: One From Column A, One From Column B :$AFTY

MarketsMuse ETF market update profiling the latest A-Shares initiative out of China is courtesy of extract from coverage by ETFTrends’ Todd Shriber..

Todd Shriber, ETFtrends.com

CSOP Asset Management is not a household name in the U.S., but the Hong Kong-based asset manager could change that with today’s launch of its first U.S-listed exchange traded fund, the CSOP FTSE China A50 ETF (NYSEArca: AFTY).

The CSOP FTSE China A50 ETF is first ETF to be listed independently in the U.S. by a Chinese asset management company. Previous versions of A-shares ETFs to list in the U.S. have been partnerships between a U.S.- or Europe-based ETF issuer and a China-based asset manager. Those partnerships are pivotal to ETF issuers being able to offer U.S. funds that feature physical access to China’s A-shares because a Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) meets Chinese regulatory requirements to be a foreign owner of A-shares.

For the full story from ETFtrends.com, please click here

Corporate Bond ETFs and Liquidity: A Looming Black Swan or Extended Contango?

MarketsMuse update inspired by yesterday’s column by Tom Lydon/ETFtrends.com and smacks at the heart of what certain “bomb throwers” believe could be a Black Swan event, albeit an event that may not be driven by a global crisis or surprise economic event. The event in question will, in theory, take place when interest rates start ticking up (and underlying corporate bond prices tick down) and institutional bond fund managers find themselves trying to figure out whether to simply suffer from mark-downs (and performance) or to continue collecting coupons until the issues they hold mature.

MM Editor Note: Since most folks know that bond managers are akin to lemmings (no disrespect intended!) and typically follow each other like blind mice, given the massive size of the corporate market place, a potential avalanche could take place when everyone runs for the exit if rates tick up and simultaneously, the economy starts to slow. Wall Street dealers are certainly not going to be available to catch those falling knives, simply because new regulations have put a crimp in the capital they can commit to warehousing positions. Worse still, its easy to envision one very long contango event, where the cash ETF trades at a discount to the value of the underlying bonds, simply because one won’t be able to sell those underlying bonds in any type of material size.

Here’s an opening extract from Tom Lydon’s piece “Liquidity Concerns In Corporate Bond ETFs”: Continue reading

Cancer Treatment ETF Surges In Past Few Days

MarketMuse update courtesy of extract from Todd Shriber’s latest piece at ETFTrends. 

ETFTrends-logoShares of Pharmacyclics (NasdaqGS: PCYC), a maker of cancer treatments, surged nearly 17% Wednesday, extending a run that has seen the stock surge 80.1% this year, on news that the California-based company is mulling a sale.

Citing unidentified sources, Bloombergreports that Dow component Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ)and Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NYSE: NVS) could be among the suitors for Pharmacyclics. Multiple suitors for the company could prove to be a boon for the First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund (NYSEArca: FBT), one of a scant number of exchange traded funds that have decent exposure toPharmacyclics.

Shares of FBT climbed 1.9% Wednesday on volume that was more than 25% above the three-month trailing average thanks in part to the ETF’s nearly 4.1% weight to Pharmacyclics. The stock was FBT’s third-largest holding as of Feb. 24, helping the ETF join 24 other healthcare funds among the 195 ETFs that hit all-time highs yesterday.

Where things get interesting for Pharmacyclics, and as a result, FBT, is how much of a premium a suitor will pay. Pharmacyclics closed Wednesday with a market value of $16.6 billion. Sources told Bloomberg the company could fetch $17 billion to $18 billion. The Financial Times reported Pharmacyclics could command $19 billion.

For the entire article from ETFtrends.com, please click here

China ETFs Seeming More Like The Year Of The Bear

MarketMuse update courtesy of ETFTrends’ Todd Shriber looking at China related ETFs. 

In the Chinese zodiac, 2015 is the year of the goat, but a popular exchange traded fund tracking China’s onshore equities is getting bearish treatment.

The Deutsche X-trackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares ETF (NYSEArca: ASHR), the largest U.S-listed A-shares ETF, had 6.3% of its shares outstanding sold short as of Feb. 23, reports Belinda Cao forBloomberg.

ASHR surged 51.3% last year, making it one of 2014’s best-performing non-leveraged ETFs. That performance was better than quadruple the showing by the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (NYSEArca: FXI), the largest U.S.-listed China ETF. However, the 2014 A-shares rally has those stocks looking richly valued relative to their Hong Kong-listed counterparts, encouraging traders to up bearish bets on ASHR.

“The number of shares borrowed and sold short to profit from a decline in Deutsche Bank’s A-share ETF was 1.8 million on Feb. 23. That’s close to the record of 2.4 million, or 8.2 percent of total shares outstanding, reached Feb. 13,” Bloomberg reports, citing Markit data.

However, another catalyst could be encouraging the increased bearish bets on ASHR. On Jan. 21, Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DAWM) was forced to limit creations of new shares in ASHR because increased demand for the ETF was forcing the fund o bump up against their respective Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII), which allows the funds to purchase A-shares equities

Creation limits often lead to ETFs, particularly those with exposure to markets that are closed during the U.S. trading day, trading at premiums to net asset value. Professional traders then look to profit from the gap between the ETF’s market price and lower NAV by shorting the ETF. Since the start of 2015, ASHR has traded at a premium to its NAV in 26 days, according to DAWM data.

Although the most recently announced creation limit for ASHR has not yet been lifted, it should be noted the ETF was affected by the same scenario twice in 2014 and DAWM was quick to get ASHR’s RQFII limit increased.

With ASHR’s 2014 surge, some money managers now prefer H-shares to A-shares, but that means they are also missing out on a notable rally in A-shares small-caps.

The Deutsche X-trackers Harvest CSI 500 China A-Shares Small Cap Fund (NYSEArca: ASHS), which was subject to a second creation limit last November, is up 12.1% this year. ASHS tracks the CSI 500 Index of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed small-caps.

The Market Vectors ChinaAMC SME-ChiNext ETF (NYSEArca: CNXT), the younger of the two A-shares small-cap ETFs, has surged 23.7% year-to-date, making it 2015’s top-performing non-leveraged ETF. CNXT, which is heavily allocated to mid-caps, tracks the SME-ChiNext 100 (SZ399611), which provides exposure to the 100 most liquid mid- and small-cap stocks that trade on the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Board and the ChiNext Board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE).

 

J.P. Morgan War On Hacking Boosts ETF $ HACK

MarketMuse update courtesy of Yahoo Finance from ETF Trends. 

Earlier in the week, MarketMuse profiled cyber security ETFs recent boost and today, Brokerdealer.com profiled how J.P. Morgan’s war on cyber security is costing bankers’ jobs, so it only seemed fitting that MarketMuse combine to two subjects for today’s MarketMuse post. Since the threat of cyber security doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon, J.P. Morgan is spending more money on cyber security protection and less money investors’ salaries resulting in the lowest banker hiring rate in recent years and growing cyber security ETFs.   

In what has become an almost daily affair in recent weeks, the PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF (HACK) is hitting record highs again Thursday and doing so on strong volume.

HACK, the first exchange traded fund dedicated to the cyber security industry, is up 1% today on volume that is already 36% above the daily average. As has been the case with HACK over its brief trading history (the ETF debuted in November), the catalysts for Thursday upside are easy to identify.

Namely, a Bloomberg article detailing J.P. Morgan Chase’s (JPM) commitment to bolstering its cyber security through increased spending and hiring of former military members. The bank was victimized by a cyber security breach in June 2014.

Given HACK’s penchant for responding favorably to such news items (see the controversy surrounding “The Interview” and the ETF’s reaction to the recent Anthem Blue Cross hack), it is not a stretch to say that if HACK was around in June, it would have soared in the days following news of the J.P. Morgan hack. [Anthem Hack Lifts Cyber Security ETF]

HACK did not exist in June 2014, but J.P. Morgan is having a favorable impact on the ETF. In October 2014, J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon said the banking giant will likely double its cyber security spending to $500 million within the next five years.

Important to HACK, Dimon is making good on that promise. J.P. Morgan’s security operation has 1,000 staffers, double the size of the comparable unit at Google (GOOG), according to Bloomberg. Add to that, J.P. Morgan is far from the only major financial services that is expected to increase cyber security spending in the coming years.

Citigroup’s (NYSE: C) cyber security budget jumped to $300 million at the end of last year while Wells Fargo (WFC) spends roughly $250 million a year on cybersecurity and has increased staffing in the area by 50%, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Increased cyber security spending by financial services firms is seen as a boon for companies such as FireEye (FEYE), Palo Alto Networks (PANW) and Japan’s Trend Micro. All three are members of HACK’s portfolio with FIreEye and Palo Alto Networks combining for 9.7% of the ETF’s weight.

Earlier this week, HACK surged after Russia’s Kaspersky Lab, a major cyber security firm, said a group of hackers have stolen as much as $1 billion from over 100 banks in 30 countries since late 2013.

Investors are buying into the thesis that increased cyber security spending bodes well for HACK’s longer-term potential. The ETF that the fund is now home to $231 million in assets under management, confirming HACK’s place on the list of most successful ETFs to debut in 2014. Impressively, HACK’s ascent to $231 million in AUM means the ETF has more than doubled in size over the past six weeks after topping $100 million in assets in early January. The ETF debuted in November.

For the original article, click here.