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The International Securities Exchange (ISE) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with First Trust Advisors L.P. to create and list an exchange-traded fund (ETF) based on the ISE Global Wind Energy Index, the newest addition to ISE's suite of innovative proprietary indexes. The ISE Global Wind Energy Index includes global listings of companies that are active in the wind energy industry.
"The ISE Global Wind Energy Index tracks a vital component of the global alternative energy industry," said Kris Monaco, Director of New Product Development at ISE. "We are very pleased to again work with First Trust to create a vehicle that will enable investors to gain exposure to this industry of growing global importance."
"First Trust is extremely pleased to launch another pioneering exchange-traded fund with ISE," said Robert F. Carey, CFA and Chief Investment Officer at First Trust. "We continually evaluate opportunities to broaden the First Trust family of ETFs, and the First Trust ISE Global Wind Energy Index Fund will enhance our unique specialty sector offerings."
The First Trust ISE Global Wind Energy Index Fund will normally invest at least 90% of assets in common stocks that comprise the ISE Global Wind Energy Index. The index is a modified market cap-weighted portfolio with 53 companies. Companies having been identified as providing products and services exclusively to the wind energy industry are given an aggregate weight of 66.67% of the index portfolio. Companies determined to be significant participants in the wind energy industry despite not being exclusive to the industry are given an aggregate weight of 33.33% of the index portfolio. Index eligibility is limited to those companies that are actively engaged in some aspect of the wind energy industry, such as the development or management of a wind farm or the production or distribution of electricity generated by wind power. The index is calculated in real-time and published on Reuters under the code ISEWE, but will soon be available on Options Price Reporting Authority under the ticker symbol GWE.
The fund will be listed on NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol FAN. The anticipated listing date is Wednesday, June 18, 2008.
In addition to the First Trust Global Wind Energy Index Fund, First Trust Advisors offers additional ETFs that are based on ISE's proprietary indexes. The First Trust ISE Chindia Index Fund (FNI), the First Trust ISE-Revere Natural Gas Index Fund (FCG), and the First Trust ISE Water Index Fund (FIW) currently have over $250 million in aggregate assets under management.
Additional information about ISE's portfolio of proprietary sector indexes, including methodology guides, component lists and weightings, performance metrics and historical data, is available on ISE's website at www.ise.com/indexoptions.
ISE Background
The International Securities Exchange operates a family of fully electronic trading platforms, creating efficient markets through innovative technology and market structure. ISE's markets portfolio consists of an options exchange and a stock exchange. As the world's largest equity options trading venue, ISE offers options on equities, ETFs, indexes, and FX. The ISE Stock Exchange trades approximately 6,000 products, and is the only fully electronic equities platform that provides the opportunity for continuous price improvement through the interaction of its non-displayed liquidity pool, MidPoint Match, and its displayed stock market. ISE Alternative Markets is scheduled to launch in 2008 and will offer a parimutuel trading platform for derivatives auctions. To complement its markets and enable investors to trade smarter, ISE creates innovative new products including a portfolio of proprietary indexes and enhanced market data for sophisticated investors.
ISE is a wholly owned subsidiary of Eurex, a leading global derivatives exchange. Eurex itself is jointly owned by Deutsche Börse AG (Ticker: DB1) and SWX Swiss Exchange. Together, Eurex and ISE are the global market leader in individual equity and equity index derivatives.
First Trust Advisors
First Trust Advisors L.P., the fund's investment advisor, along with its affiliate First Trust Portfolios L.P., the fund's distributor, are privately-held companies which provide a variety of investment services, including asset management, financial advisory services, and municipal and corporate investment banking, with collective assets under management or supervision of over $34 billion as of May 31, 2008 through closed-end funds, unit investment trusts, mutual funds, separate managed accounts and exchange-traded funds.
