It took April until its final full week, but the month finally saw a boom in launches as 10 exchange-traded products came to life. And they’re a diverse bunch, covering everything from a Warren Buffett concept to blended commodities.
Van Eck channeled the Oracle of Omaha when it launched the Market Vectors Morningstar Wide Moat Research ETF (NYSE:MOAT). The ETF follows Morningstar’s Wide Moat Focus Index, which is an equal-weighted index following stocks with “wide moats” — a term Buffett used to describe sustainable competitive advantages one company has over its rivals. Such advantages include low-cost production or high costs of switching from one product or service to another.
Holdings thought to have such “wide moats” include e-tailer Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), search giant Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), business octopus General Electric (NYSE:GE) and money mover Western Union (NYSE:WU). Expenses run at 0.49%.
State Street (NYSE:STT) launched three of an expected six total entries as its first foray into the actively managed ETF field. All three use a fund-of-funds structure mixing equities with debt to provide better returns as a response to the exodus of cash that has fled to bond markets.
State Street’s SPDR SSgA Global Allocation ETF (NYSE:GAL, 0.35% expenses) uses 16 exchange-traded products to expose investors to a heavy mix of U.S. stocks, international stocks and investment-grade bonds, as well as TIPS, global real estate and high-yield assets. It includes a hefty 28% weighting in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY).
The SPDR SSgA Income Allocation ETF (NYSE:INKM, 0.7%) uses 18 income-based ETFs such as the S&P Dividend ETF (NYSE:SDY), the Barclays Capital High Yield Bond ETF (NYSE:JNK) and the Wells Fargo Preferred Stock ETF (NYSE:PSK) to earn its returns.
Lastly, the SPDR SSgA Multi-Asset Real Return ETF (NYSE:RLY, 0.7%) aims to battle inflation through 13 exchange-traded products dedicated to natural resources, inflation-linked bonds, commodities and REITs. Holdings include the Global Natural Resources ETF (NYSE:GNR) and Dow Jones Global Real Estate (NYSE:RWO), among others.
Other funds launching last week included:
- The DJ-UBS Commodity Index 2-4-6 Blended Futures ETN (NYSE:BLND, 0.7%), which leverages equal weights in two-, four- and six-month futures contracts.
- Three Guggenheim BulletsShares high-yield corporate bond funds for years 2016 (NYSE:BSJG), 2017 (NYSE:BSJH) and 2018 (NYSE:BSJI), each charges 0.42% in expenses.
- Two bond funds by BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), both listed on the BATS BZX Exchange, covering different spectrums of rated debt: The iShares Baa-Ba Rated Corporate Bond Fund (BZX:QLTB, 0.30%) and the iShares B-Ca Rated Corporate Bond Fund (BZX:QLTC, 0.55%).
Last week’s additions doubled the total in April to 20, and all in all, 105 new funds have been launched this year, according to XTF.com. The previous week’s offerings included an MLP ETF, an emerging-market corporate debt fund and a Chinese “trend-following” fund.
Kyle Woodley is the assistant editor of InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Follow him on Twitter at @KyleWoodley.
