John Jacobs, CEO of NASDAQ Global Funds said, “EQQQ now trades on five European exchanges and the London Stock Exchange is clearly a key venue. This development will give individual, retail and institutional European investors access to some of the world's most innovative, industry-leading companies on one of the world's most efficient and trusted markets.”
The Nasdaq ETF Funds has been authorized by the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority as an Undertaking for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) within the meaning of the European Union's UCITS III regime. The UCITS III regime was established by the European Commission as the regulatory framework for many investment funds organized in EU member states. EQQQ, which is a distributing fund in the UK, is structured for the European market and is now quoted and traded in Sterling on the London Stock Exchange.
EQQQ's trading activity on the London Stock Exchange will clear and settle through CREST, a settlement risk reduction system regulated by the UK's Financial Services Authority.
The total expense ratio of EQQQ is limited to 20 basis points (0.2%) per year. The portfolio composition and total expense ratio of EQQQ are substantially the same as those of its U.S. counterpart, the NASDAQ-100 Index Tracking Stock ® (NASDAQ: QQQQ), which is one of the most actively traded equities in the world - averaging over 80 million shares per day.
Martin Graham, Director of Market Services at the London Stock Exchange, said,
"We are delighted to welcome the EQQQ to the growing number of ETFs available on the London Stock Exchange. The EQQQ will give UK investors a simple and cost-effective way to diversify their portfolio by including a range of innovative and dynamic US companies."
The NASDAQ-100 Index includes 100 of the largest domestic and international non-financial companies listed on NASDAQ based on market capitalization. The Index reflects companies across major industry groups including computer hardware and software, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. Some of the world's most widely recognized companies are included in the Index, including Microsoft, Starbucks, Bed Bath & Beyond, Intel and Amazon.com.
For more information about the EQQQ, please visit http://www.nasdaq.com/indexshares/eqqq.stm .
