Effective Wednesday (Dec. 18) PCX will initiate trading by listing the first of these ETFs: iShares Russell 1000, iShares Russell 1000 Value, and iShares Russell 2000 Value.
"Russell's U.S. indexes offer investors an ideal tool for use as the underlying benchmark for options and a wide range of exchange traded fund products," said Kevin Lohman, global sales manager of Russell indexes. "We're particularly pleased to sign this agreement with the Pacific Exchange, which will use its top-notch electronic options trading systems for these products."
The agreement comes at a time of growing popularity for ETFs such as Russell index iShares, which offer investors a basket of securities designed to generally track an index yet trade like a single stock. Options on ETFs offer an opportunity to either capitalize on an expected market move or to protect holdings in the underlying index-based instrument.
"This agreement gives us the opportunity to offer investors yet another set of powerful investment tools," Jonathan B. Werts, PCX Vice President for Business and Product Development. "We are very pleased to extend our relationship with Russell, and look forward to working with the firm in the future."
The 12 exchange-traded funds known as Russell iShares are managed by Barclay's Global Fund Advisors, a subsidiary of Barclays Global Investors, N.A., the largest manager of indexed products in the world. These ETFs include iShares Russell 1000, iShares Russell 1000 Value, iShares Russell 1000 Growth, iShares Russell 2000, iShares Russell 2000 Value, iShares Russell 2000 Growth, iShares Russell 3000, iShares Russell 3000 Value, iShares Russell 3000 Growth, iShares Russell MidCap, iShares Russell MidCap Value, and iShares Russell MidCap Growth.
