(July 28 – 18:00 ET) – Exchange-traded funds were back in the spotlight today as Barclay’s launched 10 new ones and Merrill Lynch debuted a new offering of its own.
Merrill’s new Market 2000+ HOLDRS Trust will own stock in 50 of the world’s largest companies that are traded in the U.S., including Nortel Networks and JDS Uniphase.
Meanwhile, Barclays is now offering iShares on the S&P Europe 350, S&P SmallCap 600/BARRA Growth, S&P SmallCap 600/BARRA Value, S&P MidCap, 400/BARRA Growth, S&P MidCap 400/BARRA Value, Russell 3000 Growth, Russell 3000 Value, Russell 2000 Growth, Russell 2000 Value and MSCI EMU.
Most of the products have an expense ratio of 0.25%, although the S&P Europe 350 is 0.60%, and the MSCI EMU is 0.84%. At these prices, the ETFs are posing a big threat to traditional mutual funds, although investors must pay a commission to trade the shares.
A report by Strategic Insight says ETFs brought in more than US$17 billion in the first half of the year, bringing total assets to US$52.6 billion.
-IE Staff