Products June 24, 2008

BNP Paribas Launches Two ETFs

A new index – and a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) based on that index – have launched.
Reported by

The Dow Jones Luxury Index is an index designed to measure the market performance of companies worldwide that derive a sizeable portion of revenues from providing “luxury” goods and services. That index and the existing Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index have been licensed to BNP Paribas to serve as the basis for two exchange-traded funds. Both the EasyETF DJ Luxury and EasyETF STOXX 600 are available today at Euronext, according to a press release.

The Dow Jones Luxury Index tracks the performance of 30 companies selected by editors of The Wall Street Journal. The editors choose stocks that reflect a diversified cross-section of the luxury segment across countries, sectors and market capitalization. It is weighted by float-adjusted market capitalization and component weights are capped at 10% of the index. Composition changes to the index are made on an as-needed basis, while share numbers and float-adjustment factors are updated quarterly.

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.

Components

As of June 20, 2008, the Dow Jones Luxury Index is up 6.71% since its inception on January 2, 2006. The top three components by float-adjusted market capitalization are:

  • Compagnie Financiere Richemont S.A.,
  • LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, and
  • Porsche Automobil Holding SE.

The Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index, an existing index designed to provide a broad yet liquid representation of large, mid and small capitalization companies in 18 European countries, is up 9.73% in the same time period listed above.

The index covers Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

More information about the Dow Jones Luxury Index can be found online at http://www.djindexes.com.

Data & Research June 24, 2008

Most Expect to at Least Get By in Retirement

They may not be cheerfully optimistic, but most workers feel they’ll be able to at least “get by″ in retirement.
Reported by

A new poll from Bankrate, Inc. (conducted by GfK Roper as part of Bankrate’s Financial Literacy series on retirement) found that more than a quarter (28%) of 1,004 Americans surveyed say that they will be able to retire comfortably, and another third say they’ll have enough to “get by” when retired.

And although that means that more than half will have enough (if just enough), and 16% of survey respondents have increased their contribution rate (15% have decreased their savings rate), 70% say they have set low expectations about their retirement prospects, and nearly one in five is afraid they’ll never be able to retire.

Want the latest retirement plan adviser news and insights? Sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters.

“Nothing” Doing

Of course, the vast majority (73%) has made no changes to their savings rate at all – and a mere 8% have ceased contributions to their workplace retirement plan or individual retirement account (IRA) altogether. That’s definitely a good trend.

And when you break the numbers down further, most of those who worry that they will never be able to retire haven’t even stopped to figure out how much they would need. So, either they have no real foundation for their fear – or they are so terribly far off that they are afraid to even attempt the calculation.

On the other hand, among those who expect to be retiring with plenty of money to be comfortable – more than a quarter (26%) – have not made any attempt to find out how much money they would actually need.

Of course, the bottom line after sorting through all those figures seems to be that workers may – or may not – feel that they will have enough to retire on….but most don’t seem to have a clue, either way.

«