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PowerShares Capital Management LLC, a leading provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and Nasdaq Global Funds, Inc., a subsidiary of The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc., announced an agreement to transfer sponsorship of the NASDAQ-100 Index Tracking Stock® (NASDAQ: QQQQ), also known as QQQ®, the NASDAQ-100 European Tracker® (EQQQ), and the four BLDRS Index Funds TrustSM (NASDAQ: ADRE; ADRD; ADRU; ADRA). Pending Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other regulatory approvals, sponsorships of the funds will be conveyed to PowerShares.
PowerShares Capital Management, an AMVESCAP PLC company (NYSE: AVZ), is one of the most innovative ETF companies in the marketplace today, and is the second largest issuer of ETFs in the United States. The transaction significantly expands the distribution channels for the funds and will bring greater investor education and access to these innovative products.
PowerShares seeks to provide Intelligent Indexes, Intelligent Exposure and Intelligent Access for investors. “The QQQ fits very well in the PowerShares family of funds because the NASDAQ like PowerShares is synonymous with leadership, innovation and creativity. We are extremely pleased to expand our existing strategic relationship with The NASDAQ Stock Market,” said Bruce Bond, President of PowerShares Capital Management. “Being the most heavily traded exchange traded fund in the world, QQQ provides shareholders with unprecedented diversified access to NASDAQ companies, some of which are among the most compelling investment opportunities available on an exchange today.”
“PowerShares has a strong track record of providing compelling portfolios and investment tools for advisers and investors,” said John Jacobs, CEO of NASDAQ Global Funds. “The addition of these successful investment products to PowerShares' family of exchange traded funds (ETFs) underscores their commitment to sound portfolio construction and investment management approaches. This decision is another important step to elevate NASDAQ's growing and significant leadership in the equification of America.”
NASDAQ is an influential and innovative force in the financial products industry. It will maintain its position as a world class indexer by developing new indexes of its own and with other partners. NASDAQ is home to some of the world's most closely watched indexes including the NASDAQ-100 Index, the NASDAQ Clean Edge U.S. Index, and the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index. In addition to pursuing listings of ETFs and other structured products, NASDAQ will continue to develop ETFs and other financial products that are based on NASDAQ and other indexes.
Designed to follow the NASDAQ-100 Index, QQQQ tracks one-hundred of the largest non-financial companies listed on NASDAQ. It is the most actively traded ETF in the world with 107.9 million average shares traded daily as of September 30, 2006¹.
BLDRS is a series of ETFs based on The Bank of New York ADR IndexesSM. A real-time index tracking U.S. traded depositary receipts, the BLDRS Fund Family includes two market index funds and two regional index funds. Each BLDR represents an entire portfolio of international equities and has the benefit of low cost, transparent investing, liquidity, diversity, and The Bank of New York's expertise as a world leader in depositary receipt programs.
The NASDAQ-100 European Tracker is a European version of QQQ. It is available to investors in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Switzerland and the UK. European investors can buy the NASDAQ-100 European Tracker in their time zones and currencies. This product cannot be bought or sold in the U.S.
NASDAQ's agreement to transfer sponsorships of QQQ and the BLDRS Index Funds to PowerShares requires approval from the SEC. The transfer of the NASDAQ-100 European Tracker will be a separate transaction that must first be approved by the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority. Both transactions are expected to be completed by June 30, 2007.
ETFs are investment products that hold a pool of securities and are designed to generally correspond with a specific Index. Investors can buy and sell ETFs just like stock, through their broker in most cases, throughout the trading day.
