Odds & Ends: iShares Debuts Green Equity Fund

At total of 14 exchanged-traded funds rolled out during the week ending Nov. 4, 2022, bringing the year-to-date number of launches to 371.

Among last week’s more notable rollouts was the Thursday launch of the iShares Environmental Infrastructure and Industrials ETF (EFRA), which covers companies that, according to its prospectus, “provide infrastructure and industrials solutions” supporting the clean energy industry.

Its underlying index, the FTSE Green Revenues Select Infrastructure and Industrials Index, covers developed-market companies that derive at least 40% of their green revenues from 29 different microsectors falling within three themes: energy efficiency and emissions mitigation; pollution reduction; and land and resource optimization.

The index also screens for traditional environmental, governance ans social criteria like human rights violations or involvement in business activities related to tobacco, weapons and thermal coal mining.

EFRA had a portfolio of 45 companies at launch. It comes with an expense ratio of 0.47% and lists on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

That same day, the BNY Mellon Global Infrastructure Income ETF (BKGI) listed on Cboe Global Markets, with an expense ratio of 0.65%. The fund is actively managed and primarily invests in dividend-paying companies from developed as well as emerging markets operating in the infrastructure sector. The fund is managed by Newton Investment Management North America and relies on quantitative and fundamental research to select its portfolio. The fund aims for a 12-month yield of 6%.

Also on Thursday, First Trust launched the actively managed FT Energy Income Partners Strategy ETF (EIPX). The new fund mainly invests in companies falling within the energy and utilities sectors, including master limited partnerships. It seeks to provide investors with both capital appreciation and income, selecting its holdings based on yield, growth and valuation. EIPX has an expense ratio of 0.95% and lists on the NYSE Arca.

Allianz debuted two more defined outcome ETFs on Tuesday. The AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer10 Nov ETF (NVBT) and the AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer20 Nov ETF (NVBW) use flexible exchange options to deliver exposure to the price return of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), with a cap on upside performance and a downside buffer that provides downside protection. The funds reset annually at the start of November. 

NVBT started off with a pre-expenses cap on its performance of 26.1% and a downside buffer of 10%, while NVBW has a pre-expenses cap of 16.16% and a downside buffer of 20%. The funds come with an expense ratio of 0.74% and list on the NYSE Arca.

On Friday, the Adaptiv Select ETF (ADPV) launched on the NYSE Arca with an expense ratio of 1.00%. The fund is actively managed, with the intention of providing capital appreciation in upward trending markets and limiting drawdowns in a declining market. It generally holds a portfolio of 25 U.S. large cap stocks, adjusting exposures weekly according to the fund’s underlying model. It can shift entirely into short-term Treasury securities when the model indicates a long-term downward trend.

Also on Friday, the Reverb ETF (RVRB) debuted on Cboe Global Markets, with an expense ratio of 0.30%. The actively managed fund invests in large cap U.S. stocks according to a web-based algorithm that relies on sentiment as determined by the Reverberate App, which allows users to express their views about the companies in RVRB’s investable universe. The fund adjusts its holdings based on the sentiment data collected by the app.

New Closures

Also announced during the week was the closure of the ETFMG 2X Daily Inverse Alternative Harvest ETF (MJIN), which launched in October 2021. The fund never gathered assets, despite strong performance relative to the broad cannabis market, which is down significantly over the past 12 months. The fund will see its last day of trading on Nov. 23.

Meanwhile, the Genuine Investors ETF (GCIG) will cease trading after Nov. 21. The fund launched in December 2021 and has less than $10 million in assets under management.

Existing ETF Change

Several ETFs have undergone or are expected to undergo significant changes.

As of Nov. 1, the following funds changed their indexes:

• The VictoryShares USAA MSCI USA Value Momentum ETF (ULVM) changed its name to the VictoryShares US Value Momentum ETF and switched its index from the MSCI USA Select Value Momentum Blend Index to the Nasdaq Victory US Value Momentum Index.
• The VictoryShares USAA MSCI USA Small Cap Value Momentum ETF (USVM) changed its name to the VictoryShares US Small Mid Cap Value Momentum ETF and its index from the MSCI USA Small Cap Select Value Momentum Blend Index to the Nasdaq Victory US Small Mid Cap Value Momentum Index.
• The VictoryShares USAA MSCI International Value Momentum ETF (UIVM) changed its name to the VictoryShares International Value Momentum ETF and its index from the MSCI World ex USA Select Value Momentum Blend Index to Nasdaq Victory International Value Momentum Index.

• The VictoryShares USAA MSCI Emerging Markets Value Momentum ETF (UEVM) changed its name to the VictoryShares Emerging Markets Value Momentum ETF and its index from the MSCI Emerging Markets Select Value Momentum Blend Index to the Nasdaq Victory Emerging Market Value Momentum Index.

As of Nov. 7, the Vesper U.S. Large Cap Short-Term Reversal Strategy ETF (UTRN) will change its index from the Vesper U.S. Large Cap Short-Term Reversal Index to the Solactive GBS United States 500 Index.

The KFA Mount Lucas Index Strategy ETF (KMLM) will change its name to the KFA Mount Lucas Managed Futures Index Strategy ETF as of Nov. 11.

Looking even further forward, as of Dec. 8, the SPDR SSGA Gender Diversity Index ETF (SHE) will change its name to the SPDR MSCI USA Gender Diversity ETF and its underlying index from the SSGA Gender Diversity Index to the MSCI USA Gender Diversity Select Index.

Ticker Changes

At the start of the month, AllianzIM changed the tickers on its family of buffer ETFs as follows:

• The AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer10 Jan ETF (AZAJ) changed its ticker to JANT.
• The AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer20 Jan ETF (AZBJ) changed its ticker to JANW.
• The AllianzIM US Large Cap Buffer10 Apr ETF (AZAA) changed its ticker to APRT.
• The AllianzIM US Large Cap Buffer20 Apr ETF (AZBA) changed its ticker to APRW.
• The AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer10 Jul ETF (AZAL) changed its ticker to JULT.
• The AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer20 Jul ETF (AZBL) changed its ticker to JULW.
• The AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer10 Oct ETF (AZAO) changed its ticker to OCTT.
• The AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer20 Oct ETF (AZBO) changed its ticker to OCTW.

Expense Ratio Changes

The expense ratio for the Highland iBoxx Senior Loan ETF (SNLN) decreased from 0.66% to 0.56% as of Oct. 31.

On Nov. 1, AdvisorShares changed the expense ratios on 18 of its ETFs as shown in the table below:

Share Splits

Finally, three ETFs underwent 1-for-10 reverse splits as of Oct. 31:

• MicroSectors FANG & Innovation 3X Leveraged ETN (BULZ)
• MicroSectors FANG+ Index 3X Leveraged ETN (FNGU)
• MicroSectors Gold Miners 3X Leveraged ETN (GDXU)

Contact Heather Bell at [email protected]