Daily ETF Watch: 4 ETFs Launch Today

Global X and First Trust are each launching a pair of ETFs today.

Global X and First Trust are each launching a pair of ETFs today, with New York-based Global X adding two funds to its hedge-fundlike strategy GURU, while Wheaton, Ill.-based First Trust is bringing out two products based on indexes created by Richard Bernstein, the money manager who once served as chief investment strategist for Merrill Lynch.

Today’s four launches raise to 46 the number of ETFs brought to market so far this year. More than 1,570 ETFs now populate the universe of U.S.-listed ETFs, and total assets are now close to a record at $1.736 trillion, according to data compiled by ETF.com Analytics.

The four funds coming to market today reflect the increasingly granular manner in which ETFs are being designed to capture returns in the financial markets.

While still index strategies, as the vast majority of ETFs are, the new funds are designed to access corners of the market historically associated with active asset management.

Global X

Global X is rolling out on NYSE Arca the Global X Guru Small Cap Index ETF (GURX) as well as the Global X Guru International Index ETF (GURI). The two strategies, as noted, will complement the company’s successful $598 million Global X GURU ETF (GURU | B-50), which came to market in June 2012.

Like GURU, both new Global X funds will use 13F filings used by hedge fund managers to drive stock selection in their respective markets, including domestic small-cap equities and international equities. Institutional money managers who run more than $100 million in assets are required to submit such 13F filings to regulators quarterly.

Both funds will have annual expense ratios of 0.75 percent, or $75 for every $10,000 invested, according to a regulatory filing. GURU also charges 0.75 percent.

GURU attracted $363.6 million in 2013, according to data compiled by ETF.com, and had returns of 40.7 percent, beating the S&P 500 Index’s 30 percent return. Year-to-date, the fund has gathered $194.4 million in new assets, but has remained relatively flat versus the S&P’s gain of 1.9 percent.

First Trust’s Richard Bernstein ETFs

First Trust is meanwhile launching a pair of ETFs to make dividend and sector bets, including the First Trust RBA Quality Income ETF (QINC) and the First Trust RBA American Industrial Renaissance ETF (AIRR).

QINC will track the Richard Bernstein Advisors Quality Income Index, which is focused on total return through a combination of dividend income and capital appreciation. Its annual expense ratio is 0.70 percent, or $70 for every $10,000 invested.

AIRR will be benchmarked to the Richard Bernstein Advisors American Industrial Renaissance Index, which measures the performance of small and midcap U.S. companies in the industrial and community banking sectors. Its annual expense ratio is also 0.70 percent, or $70 for every $10,000 invested.

Bernstein, considered an expert on style investing, runs his own registered investment advisory firm—New York-based Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC.

Both funds will have their primary listings on the Nasdaq.