Daily ETF Watch: Global X To Use MSCI
Global X switches more funds to MSCI benchmarks.
Global X switches more funds to MSCI benchmarks.
Global X switches more funds to MSCI benchmarks.
For the second time in as many months, Global X will switch a pair of its funds over to benchmarks provided by MSCI, an NYSE communique said.
Today the Global X FTSE Argentina 20 ETF (ARGT | C-24) will drop its underlying index, the FTSE Argentina 20 Index, and adopt the MSCI All Argentina 25/50 Index as its benchmark. At the same time, it will change its name to the Global X MSCI Argentina ETF.
Likewise, the Global X Nigeria Index ETF (NGE | F-51) will adopt the MSCI All Nigeria Select 25/50 Index as its underlying benchmark, transitioning away from the Solactive Nigeria Index. The fund’s name will change to the Global X MSCI Nigeria ETF.
In July, both the Global X MSCI Norway ETF (NORW | C-93) and the Global X MSCI Colombia ETF (GXG | C-60) dropped their FTSE indexes in favor of MSCI benchmarks and changed their names to reflect the transition.
Also, today the Global X FTSE ASEAN 40 ETF (ASEA | D-78) will change its name to the Global X Southeast Asia ETF—it will continue to track the FTSE ASEAN 40 Index.
Fund Suspension
Another NYSE communique signaled the impending closure of the iShares 2014 AMT-Free Bond ETF (MUAC | B), noting that the target-maturity-date fund’s trading would suspended as of Monday, Aug. 18. After that date it will no longer be open to new investments, with investors receiving the liquidated assets sometime around Aug. 21, according to an iShares FAQ on the subject.
The fund tracks investment-grade municipal bonds that reach their maturity between May 31 and Sept. 1, 2014.
Target-maturity-date bond ETFs have been viewed in a largely favorable light by investors. Unlike standard bond ETFs, which never mature, target-date-maturity bond ETFs like MUAC allow shareholders to invest in a diversified basket of bonds that still has many of the features of an individual bond. In particular, investors can use such products in laddering strategies.
iShares launched the iShares iBonds Sep 2020 AMT-Free Muni Bond ETF (IBMI), part of the same family of bond ETFs, on Thursday.
