Products July 11, 2007

Claymore Announces New International ETFs

Claymore Securities, Inc. has announced the launch of two new exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the Claymore/Zacks Country Rotation ETF (CRO) and the Claymore/Zacks International Yield Hog Index ETF (HGI).
Reported by

According to the announcement, the Claymore/Zacks Country Rotation ETF seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before the fund’s fees and expenses, of the Zacks Country Rotation Index. The Index is comprised of 200 stocks from a universe of international companies based in countries included in the MSCI EAFE Index and including Canada, with the exclusion of companies based in Greece.

The Zacks Country Rotation Index is designed to select and weight a group of stocks which have the potential on a risk-adjusted basis to outperform the MSCI EAFE Index and other developed international benchmark indexes.

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

The Claymore/Zacks International Yield Hog Index ETF seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before the fund’s fees and expenses, of the Zacks International Yield Hog Index, the announcement said. The Index is comprised of 150 stocks from a universe of international companies, global REITs, master limited partnerships, Canadian royalty trusts, American depositary receipts (“ADRs”) of emerging market companies, and U.S. listed closed-end funds that invest in international companies.

The Zacks International Yield Hog Index is designed to select a diversified group of stocks with the potential to outperform the MSCI EAFE Index and other benchmark indices on a risk adjusted basis.

Both indexes are adjusted semi-annually.

For more information, go to www.claymoresecurities.com.

Products July 11, 2007

International ETFs Experience Strong Growth in June

Despite an overall drop in assets of U.S. exchange-traded fund (ETF) assets, international funds experienced strong growth during the month of June.
Reported by

Assets of U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) dropped from $480 billion in May 2007 to approximately $478 billion in June, according to State Street Global Advisors’ (SSgA) ETF Snapshot.

However, international funds experienced strong growth, gaining $4 billion in assets for the month. Fixed income ETFs also had a strong showing, gaining $1 billion in assets for the month, SSgA data showed.

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

The biggest losers were size-based ETFs, collectively losing $5 billion in June. Small caps were the biggest contributor to this number with a $2.1 billion loss, but all categories of size-based ETFs lost for the month.

Sector-based ETFs experienced net asset growth of $404 million for the month, with energy-based ETF assets growing by $1.1 billion. Meanwhile, REITs (real estate investment trusts) lost $647 million in total assets under management.

As of the end of June, the top ETF managers were Barclays Global Investors (BGI) with assets under management of $282 billion in 137 ETFs, followed by State Street with $102 billion across 59 ETFs. Vanguard placed third with $32 billion in 32 ETFs.

The top three U.S. ETFs in terms of dollar volume traded for the month were the SPDR S&P 500 (average daily volume $25 billion), the iShares Russell 2000 Index fund ($7 billion), and the Nasdaq-100 Index Tracking Stock ($6 billion).

As for returns, by sector, Energy, Information Technology, and Industrials were the top three performers, respectively returning 1.7%, 0.6%, and -0.1%, according to SSgA data. The Utilities sector performed the poorest in June, returning -5.3%.

«