ECON Columbia Research Enhanced Emerging Economies ETF

After a brief hiatus, EGShares resumed its torrid pace on the product development front earlier this year, launching a variety of new funds for the first time since late 2010. The New York-based company released a wave of new funds giving investors the ability to access emerging market sectors for the first time while also expanding its focus on the Indian market. In fact, the company also announced plans for more ETFs targeting Indian sectors, potentially giving investors first to market exposure in this corner of the market. Continuing this trend, the company recently filed for eleven new funds, all targeting emerging markets, in a recent filing with the SEC. While ticker information was not released and holdings information was sparse, we have detailed some of the key details from the filing below:

 

• India Consumer Goods ETF- This proposed fund seeks to offer investors exposure to the INDXX  India Consumer Goods Index which is a benchmark of Indian consumer companies. Generally, businesses in this fund will be involved in one of the following industries; food products; household goods; leisure goods; personal goods; food and drug retail; general retail; and tobacco. The fund looks to cost investors 89 basis points a year in fees and could actually face some significant competition from the firm’s very own India Consumer ETF (INCO).

 

• Turkey Small Cap ETF- This fund looks to follow the INDXX Turkey Small Cap Index which looks to track companies that have a market cap between $100 million and $2 billion that are domiciled in Turkey. The fund looks to invest across the market irrespective of sector and will charge 0.85% in management fees. If approved, this will be the first small cap ETF targeting the country but it could face some competition from the very popular large cap ETF in the space, the iShares MSCI Turkey Index Fund (TUR). (also read Time To Gobble Up The Turkey ETF)

 

• South Africa Small Cap ETF- For those seeking more South African exposure, this proposed fund could be welcomed news. The product looks to follow the INDXX South Africa Small Cap Index which consists of securities that are domiciled in South Africa and that have a market capitalization between $100 million and $2 billion. Once again, if this fund is approved it will be the first to offer exposure to the nation, although it could face competition from the large cap counterpart from iShares the MSCI South Africa Index Fund (EZA). (read Africa ETFs: Three Ways To Play)

 

• Beyond BRICs Emerging Asia Consumer ETF- Playing off of the company’s focus on consumers, this product will track the INDXX Beyond BRICs Emerging Asia Consumer Index. This product will invest in securities that are tied to the consumer industry but are not in any of the four BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. Instead, the fund will focus on companies based in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines for its exposure.

 

• Emerging Markets Consumer Small Cap ETF-  This product looks to play off of the immense success of the company’s other consumer focused products such as ECON that have captured investors interest in recent years. This fund, however, will focus in on the small cap space, giving investors a different way to achieve exposure. The fund will track the INDXX Emerging Markets Consumer Small Cap index which seeks to give investors access to a basket of 30 leading companies that are domiciled in any number of emerging markets. In terms of industries, the companies in the index are in one of the following spaces; automobiles and parts, beverages; food production; household goods; leisure goods; personal goods; food and drug retail; general retail; media; travel and leisure; and tobacco.

 

• Emerging Markets Balanced Income ETF- This intriguing fund looks to track the INDXX Emerging Markets Balanced Income Index, which could offer investors a higher yield in the space. The index looks to be dividend yield weighted and will be a representative sample of 40 emerging market companies and two Underlying ETFs that, as a portfolio, INDXX, LLC determines to have lower relative volatility than the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. With this method, the fund looks to have a higher yield and lower volatility than broad-based emerging market indexes, possibly making it a good choice for low-risk investors in the space (see Top Three High Yield Real Estate ETFs).

 

• Beyond BRICs Emerging Asia Small Cap ETF- Much like its counterpart listed above, this fund will focus on Indonesian, Malaysian, Thai, and Philippine securities. The difference is that this fund will focus in on firms that have a market cap between $100 million and $2 billion, giving investors broad exposure to the small cap market in this area of the world via a single ticker.  The index provider expects about 50 companies to make up the index and they will be across sector lines.

 

• Emerging Markets Real Estate ETF- Beyond the China Real Estate ETF (TAO), exposure is pretty limited to emerging market real estate, giving this proposed fund a big window of opportunity. The fund looks to track the INDXX Emerging Markets Real Estate Index which looks to offer exposure to companies involved in any one of the following segments related to real estate; developing, managing, financing and supporting the industry. The index is expected to hold about 30 securities in total and the fund could charge 85 basis points for its services (see India ETFs: Behind The Crash).

 

• Beyond BRICs Emerging Asia Infrastructure ETF- Along with consumers, one of the key focuses of EGShares is infrastructure. This fund, much like the other ex-BRIC products on this list, will focus on the emerging Southeast Asia region to obtain exposure. This could help the company round out its emerging market infrastructure exposure beyond its current, country specific lineup which includes funds that are focused on the sector in India (INXX), China (CHXX), and Brazil (BRXX).

 

• Low Volatility China Dividend ETF- This product looks to track the INDXX Low Volatility China Dividend Index which could give investors a new way to achieve Chinese exposure. The fund will seek to give investors lower levels of volatility and higher yields than the Hang Seng Index by using a basket of 30 companies. Unfortunately for EGShares, however, the Chinese ETF market is one of the more competitive and the fund could face some significant opposition in its quest to gain assets (read Forget FXI: Try These Three China ETFs Instead).

 

• Low Volatility Brazil Dividend ETF- Much like its Chinese counterpart, this fund will focus on low volatility securities, except the basket will only consist of Brazilian securities. The underlying index looks to provide investors with a higher yield and lower volatility than the Bovespa Index by using a basket of 30 Brazilian firms. However, the Brazilian market is extremely competitive and the fund could face stiff competition from a number of products that currently occupy the space.

 

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