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With this launch the range of trackers, also known as exchange traded funds (ETFs), on Euronext Amsterdam will be more than doubled, allowing investors to diversify their portfolio with investment opportunities adapted to the current financial environment.
One of the new flagship iShares trackers is the iShares AEX, which will give investors access to the most popular index in the Netherlands, the AEX Index licensed to BGI by Euronext.
In addition to the iShares AEX, 12 other varied and innovative trackers are introduced, providing exposure to, among others, emerging markets, European markets, high yield dividend stocks, real estate, growth, value stocks and inflation-linked bonds.
These 13 new iShares trackers are:
iShares AEX, iShares MSCI World, iShares MSCI AC Far East ex Japan, iShares MSCI Taiwan, iShares MSCI Brazil, iShares MSCI Korea, iShares MSCI Emerging Markets, iShares MSCI EM Eastern Europe, iShares DJ Euro STOXX Growth, iShares DJ Euro STOXX Value, iShares DJ EuroSTOXX Select Dividend, iShares FTSE/EPRA European Property, iShares € Inflation-Linked Bond.
BGI is the largest manager of trackers in the world with over 132 funds listed globally, totalling over $170.5 billion and a market share of 47.4%1. As from today BGI offers a broad range of 24 different iShares on Euronext Amsterdam.
Commenting on the launch of the new trackers, Chris Sutton, CEO of iShares Europe said, "The launch of these new funds will revolutionise the way investors can gain exposure to important markets such as Eastern Europe, the Far East and Emerging Markets, and asset classes such as fixed income and property. This launch reflects our strategy to offer a more complete product set to our investors, who have been asking for these types of funds. Launching thirteen iShares simultaneously will leave no one in any doubt about our positioning and capabilities as a global leader in the ETF market."
Commenting on the launch of the new iShares AEX, Marko van Bergen, Head of Benelux of Barclays Global Investors said, "With the launch of this AEX ETF in the Netherlands we want to focus more on retail investors. While institutional investors already know that ETFs are one of the best products to gain exposure to an index or a sector, we noticed that retail investors in the Netherlands have not yet discovered the full benefits of ETFs. With the iShares AEX we are going to change this. Investors will see the real benefits of ETFs as cost-effective investment tools that give flexible, liquid, transparent and diverse exposure to an increasingly wide choice of markets."
Marianne Demarchi, Director of Business Development, Strategy and Products for Euronext said,”With the launch of iShares products, Euronext is pleased to continue to develop a range of products immediately accessible on Euronext Amsterdam and thus to significantly enlarge the number of trackers offered in the Netherlands, allowing investors to diversify their portfolio via their local exchange in an easy, transparent and cost efficient way. As of today, the Next Track segment of Euronext lists a total of 84 trackers based on 67 different underlyings”.
Trackers are attractive investment products both for retail and institutional investors as they are flexible, transparent and cost efficient. They are indeed flexible because they are tradable as a listed security, transparent because in addition to their net asset value, calculated and disseminated daily, an indicative net asset value is calculated in real time, and finally cost-efficient because through one transaction they provide exposure to all components of the underlying index.
A dedicated exchange market makers for the new iShares trackers on Euronext Amsterdam will be Susquehanna International Securities Limited.
1Source: Morgan Stanley ETF Report 30 September 2005
