ETF Week: Burst Of Launches, More Closures

Midweek saw a burst of new launches covering unique areas of the market, while the wave of closures for 2018 continued to build with a new trio of shutdowns announced. Below is a roundup of the key events in the ETF space during the week of May 14:

Launches

• New issuer Salt Financial rolled out a high-beta ETF designed to offer an alternative to traditional leveraged funds
• REX Shares launched an actively managed blockchain fund managed by cryptocurrency expert Brian Kelly
• Pacer Financial debuted the first portion of a family of ETFs targeting different slices of the REIT space
• Virtus unveiled a preferred stock fund that incorporates features like an options overlay and leverage
• Global X added to its lineup of thematic technology ETFs with a fund targeting the intersection of artificial intelligence and big data
• First Trust introduced another ETF implementing Dorsey Wright’s relative strength methodology

Closures

• The Active Alts Contrarian ETF (SQZZ) will see its last day of trading May 25
• Deutsche announced the closure of a trio of currency-hedged ETFs set for May 31

Filings

• IndexIQ files for a preferred stock fund with a smart-beta twist.

Contact Heather Bell at [email protected]