"The American Stock Exchange is very happy to partner with First Trust Advisors and Dow Jones to bring this new ETF to the marketplace," said Cliff Weber, senior vice president of the Amex's ETF marketplace. "First Trust Advisors is a recognized innovator, and the Amex is extremely pleased to have been selected to list their first ETF. The First Trust Dow Jones Select MicroCap Index Fund is a welcome addition to the Amex family of innovative products."
"We believe financial advisors and their clients will find the First Trust Dow Jones Select MicroCap Index Fund to be a convenient and attractive way to participate in this asset class," said Scott Hall, managing director at First Trust Portfolios. "The underlying index is a departure from the typical "own the market" approach to indexing. That is, Dow developed a set of screens looking for only those stocks with certain technical and fundamental investment characteristics."
Mr. Hall added: "We're delighted to have such tremendous strategic partners in Dow Jones, Goldman Sachs, Bank of New York, and the American Stock Exchange in the launch of our first ETF."
The First Trust Dow Jones Select MicroCap Index Fund provides investors with an opportunity to invest in a diversified basket of microcap stocks. Over the last 10 years, the Index has contained, on average 289 stocks, each adjusted according to its float and market capitalization.
The specialist for the First Trust Dow Jones Select MicroCap Index Fund is Goldman Sachs Execution and Clearing LP.
About American Stock Exchange
The American Stock Exchange® (Amex®) is the only primary exchange that offers trading across a full range of equities, options and exchange traded funds (ETFs), including structured products and HOLDRSSM. In addition to its role as a national equities market, the Amex is the pioneer of the ETF, responsible for bringing the first domestic product to market in 1993. Leading the industry in ETF listings, the Amex lists 168 ETFs to date. The Amex is also one of the largest options exchanges in the U.S., trading options on broad-based and sector indexes as well as domestic and foreign stocks.
About First Trust Advisors
First Trust Advisors L.P., a registered investment adviser, is an Illinois limited partnership formed in 1991. First Trust Portfolios L.P., the largest independent unit investment trust sponsor in North America (by sales), is an affiliate of First Trust Advisors. First Trust Advisors serves as an investment adviser to separately managed accounts, insurance companies, profit-sharing plans, and charitable foundations and endowments. First Trust Advisors currently manages or supervises approximately $20 billion in assets as of 6/30/05. You should consider the Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. Call 800-621-1675 to request a prospectus, which contains this and other information abut the Fund. Read it carefully before you invest or send money. Like all investment company securities, the shares of the Fund are not insured by the FDIC or any other government agency, are not issued or guaranteed by any bank, and may lose value.
