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The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced that The NASDAQ Stock Market has listed four new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) sponsored by Barclays Global Investors, N.A. (BGI) -- the global product leader in ETFs (iShares). NASDAQ is the most liquid U.S. market for ETFs, capturing 35.7% of all U.S. ETF volume in May. Average daily matched share volume was 320 million, more than any other U.S. exchange.
The BGI-sponsored ETFs are trading on the NASDAQ ETF Market. This market is designed specifically to support ETFs and Index Linked Notes (ILNs) during their critical period of incubation and further strengthen NASDAQ's leadership position in the U.S. ETF sector.
Effective today, the following BGI-sponsored ETFs listed on NASDAQ:
- iShares S&P Global Clean Energy Index Fund (Nasdaq:ICLN)
- iShares S&P Global Nuclear Energy Index Fund (Nasdaq:NUCL)
- iShares S&P Global Timber & Forestry Index Fund (Nasdaq:WOOD)
- iShares FTSE China (HK Listed) Index Fund (Nasdaq:FCHI)
"These new iShares ETFs are trading on the most liquid U.S. market for ETFs, one that provides exceptional levels of liquidity and visibility," said John Jacobs, executive vice president, NASDAQ OMX Global Financial Products. "The NASDAQ ETF Market is designed to provide these iShares products with tremendous support during their initial listing period, helping them develop into established products that trade very efficiently."
The focus of The NASDAQ ETF Market is the Designated Liquidity Provider, a Market Maker who has been selected to maintain liquidity in qualified ETFs (i.e., Qualified Securities). NASDAQ requires Designated Liquidity Providers to maintain a higher standard of market quality measured by spread, depth, and time quoting at or near the National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO). They receive price incentives to support ETFs during their period of initial listing, when ETFs need to develop more active trading.
Designated Liquidity Providers are selected by NASDAQ based on factors including experience with making markets in ETFs and ILNs, adequacy of capital, willingness to promote NASDAQ as a marketplace, issuer preference, operational capacity, support personnel, and history of adherence to NASDAQ rules and securities laws.
The NASDAQ ETF Market allows the traditional floor-based specialist, which has historically provided initial liquidity to new ETFs, to play a similar role by placing two-sided quotes in the NASDAQ Market Center. This enables ETF sponsors to continue to have the ability to develop "preferred" relationships with intermediaries. ETF issuers may choose a single Designated Liquidity Provider or multiple, competing liquidity providers. This flexible structure enables ETF issuers and traders to interact based on the needs of the issuer as they vary throughout the life cycle of the ETF.
NASDAQ OMX is a leading index calculator, designer and creator of some of the world's most popular ETFs, including PowerShares QQQ(tm) (Nasdaq:QQQQ) -- one of the most heavily traded listed equity securities in the U.S. and one of the most active ETFs in the world. PowerShares QQQ is designed to correspond to the price and yield performance of the NASDAQ-100 Index(r), the basis of more than 500 investment products in more than 36 countries.
For more information about the NASDAQ ETF Market, please contact Richard Keary, NASDAQ New Listings, at +212.401.8903 or richard.keary@nasdaqomx.com or NASDAQ Market Sales at 800.846.0047 or sales@nasdaq.com.
For more information about BGI's iShares ETFs, please visit www.ishares.com.
