Lyxor has cross-listed the Lyxor Euro Stoxx Banks UCITS ETF (LYBK FP) on Deutsche Börse’s Xetra and Frankfurt exchanges, offering investors targeted equity exposure to the euro area’s largest banks.

The Lyxor Euro Stoxx Banks UCITS ETF provides targeted exposure to the eurozone’s largest banks.

LYBK is based on the Euro Stoxx Banks Index, a sub-index of the Euro Stoxx Index, and currently tracks 26 companies from eight euro area countries.

Spain and France dominate country exposures, with 30.8% and 24.0% index weight respectively, followed by Italy (16.8%), The Netherlands (12.9%), and Germany (7.3%).

The index is fairly concentrated at the individual security level with the top five constituents accounting for a substantial 56.2% of the total weight: Banco Santander (16.3%), BNP Paribas (13.2%), ING Group (10.9%), Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentina (8.6%) and Intesa Sanpaolo (7.2%).

The index has delivered a gross return of 35.1% over the past year, significantly outperforming the parent Euro Stoxx Index, which returned 24.8%. Naturally, investors should expect a more volatile ride, however, evidenced by the past one-year volatility of 21.8% for the Euro Stoxx Banks Index compared to 10.2% recorded on the parent index.

LYBK trades in euros, and dividends are accumulated within the fund. Total annual charges for the fund amount to 0.30%. The ETF was already listed on Euronext Paris in euros (BNKE FP) or on Euronext London in pounds sterling (BNKE LD). There is over €970 million in assets under management across all listings.

The fund competes with the Source Euro Stoxx Optimised Banks UCITS ETF (S7XP LN) which tracks a version of the Euro Stoxx Banks Index that has been optimised to increase the tradability of portfolios based on the index. Its exposures are virtually identical to the non-optimised version, however. This fund has AUM of £650m and charges fees of 0.30%.

The Amundi ETF MSCI Europe Banks UCITS ETF (CB5 LN) offers a more diversified exposure by expanding its scope to include shares of non-euro zone banks listed across Europe – most notably from the UK, Sweden and Denmark. This fund has AUM of £180m and is the cheapest of the three at 0.25%.