ETF Securities, one of Europe’s leading providers of exchange-traded products (ETPs), has marked their Switzerland debut with the launch of an initial suite of ‘thematic’ exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the SIX Swiss Exchange.
Investors in Switzerland now have access eight new ETFs inspired by some of the long-term, global development trends that are shaping today’s socio-economic, political and technological landscapes.
Commenting on the launch, Rima Haddad, Head of Switzerland & Middle East at ETF Securities, said: “We are seeing a lot of interest and demand from Swiss investors in our products and are pleased to now be able to offer a range of investment solutions based on commodities and commodity-related equities also on the local exchange.”
ETF Securities becomes the eighteenth ETF issuer active on the SIX Swiss Exchange, which now has some 880 ETF listings. Alain Picard, Head Product Management at SIX Swiss Exchange, said: “We welcome ETF Securities as a new ETF issuer at SIX Swiss Exchange. We look forward to innovative products for which the Swiss financial centre will offer an attractive sales market and the Swiss stock exchange a transparent and efficient trading centre.”
Based in London, ETF Securities is best known for pioneering exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) and whose management team, led by founder Graham Tuckwell, listed the world’s first exchange-traded gold commodity fund in 2003. Today, the firm has global assets under management of over $28 billion across commodities, currencies and thematic equities, though the vast majority resides in commodity-based products.
Considering the firm’s global leadership position in commodity ETPs, ETF Securities’ choice of debut products – all thematic equities – seems surprising. However, the choice perhaps reflects the strong position of Swiss incumbents UBS, Credit Suisse and ZKB, which are already active within the commodity ETP space in Switzerland.
The eight funds ETF Securities has selected to mark the firm’s debut in Switzerland provide investors with an alternative approach to traditional equity investing and are focused around five key themes: population growth, emerging middle class, climate change, strain on natural resources, and migration and movement.
The eight funds, which are outlined below, are already listed on the London Stock Exchange and registered for distribution across much of the European Union.
ETFX DAXglobal Alternative Energy ETF is designed to track the performance of the DAXglobal Alternative Energy Index, which replicates the performance of the fifteen largest companies worldwide in the alternative energy segment, now increasingly considered as an independent sector.
ETFX DAXglobal Coal Mining ETF is designed to track the performance of the DAXglobal Coal Index. The index‘s constituents are exclusively companies from the areas of coal mining, mining equipment and coal transportation that generate at least 50% of their revenue from this sector.
ETFX DAXglobal Gold Mining ETF is designed to track the performance of the DAXglobal Gold Miners Index. The portfolio of the DAXglobal Gold Miners index includes companies that generate at least 50% of their revenue from gold mining, a sector which includes exploration drilling, geological assessment, financing, development, extraction, initial refinement, and delivery of gold doré.
ETFX DAXglobal Shipping ETF is designed to track the performance of the DAXglobal Shipping Index, which includes companies that generate at least 50% of their revenues from freight transport and shipbuilding industries.
ETFX DJ-UBS All Commodities 3 Month Forward ETF is designed to track the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index Total Return 3 Month Forward, which is a broadly diversified index that allows investors to track commodity futures through a single, simple measure.
ETFX S-Net ITG Global Agri Business ETF is designed to track the performance of the S-Network ITG Agriculture Index, which contains only those companies engaged in “primary” agriculture and excludes companies engaged in packaged food production and distribution. The index includes all companies over a certain size that are significant participants in the following agricultural sectors: seeds, chemicals and fertilizers, equipment and irrigation, commodity agricultural products and livestock.
ETFX WNA Global Nuclear Energy ETF is designed to track the performance of the WNA Nuclear Energy Index. According to S-Network Global Indexes LLC, which publishes the index, it is designed to serve as a fair, impartial and transparent measure of the performance of the global nuclear energy industry. The index strives to include all companies over a certain size that are significant participants in the global nuclear energy industry and includes companies from five major sub-sectors: reactors, construction, fuels, technology and services and nuclear power generation.
ETFX Dow Jones Global Select Dividend ETF is designed to track the performance of the Dow Jones Global Select Dividend Index, which seeks to represent the stock performance of the 100 leading dividend-paying companies worldwide. Stocks are screened for inclusion in the index on the basis of dividend-per-share growth rate, payout ratio and average daily volume.