The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) is pleased to support the launch of two new Vanguard exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on the NASDAQ Dividend Achievers Select Index. Listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the Vanguard U.S. Dividend Appreciation Index ETF (TSX:VGG) and the Vanguard U.S. Dividend Appreciation Index ETF (CAD-hedged) (TSX:VGH) are now available to investors in Canada.
NASDAQ OMX acquired the Dividend Achievers Index Family from Mergent, Inc. in December 2012, an acquisition that immediately catapulted NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes into one of the largest providers of dividend indexes in the world, based on benchmarked assets. The world's largest dividend-themed ETF, the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (Symbol:VIG), tracks the NASDAQ U.S. Dividend Achievers Select Index. As of August 15, 2013, VIG had $16.8 billion in assets under management.
"The launch of these new Dividend Achiever ETFs in Canada is another milestone in the international expansion of investment products tracking NASDAQ OMX indexes," said John Jacobs, Executive Vice President of NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes. "We are continuing to expand our overall index offering and improve our Dividend and Income family of indexes to help global investors benchmark this increasingly important theme."
The following are examples of other investment products linked to NASDAQ OMX indexes that are available to millions of investors around the world:
- The May 2013 debut of the first cross-border ETF in China, the Guotai NASDAQ-100 Index Exchange-Traded Fund, which is based on the NASDAQ-100 Index®;
- Boost ETP's 2013 introduction in the United Kingdom of 15 leveraged exchange-traded products that track a range of indexes in the NASDAQ Commodity Benchmark Index FamilySM; and
- The March 2011 listing in India of the MOSt Shares NASDAQ-100 ETF, the first U.S.-based indexed ETF in India.
The NASDAQ Dividend and Income Index Family helps investors track companies and trading strategies positioned to produce yield in this continued low-rate environment. As of August 15, 2013, assets under management (AUM) on products linked to the Family have increased 68.9 percent, to $23.8 billion from $14.1 billion, since NASDAQ OMX acquired the Family from Mergent, Inc. in December 2012 and subsequently expanded it with two additional indexes. Assets benchmarked to the NASDAQ Dividend and Income Index Family reached an all-time high of $24.6 billion on August 5, 2013 since NASDAQ OMX purchased the suite of indexes from Mergent.