Volatility ETNs Change Tickers
Plus, two new biblical smart beta ETFs debut, while several VanEck and First Trust ETFs get a price shake-up.
Effective today, two volatility ETNs have changed their tickers: The $783 million iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN (VXXB) will now trade under the ticker VXX, while the $19 million iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN (VXZB) will trade under the ticker VXZ.
These tickers should sound familiar: VXX and VXZ were the tickers for similar volatility ETNs that matured at the end of January (read: "Big Shift In Volatility ETNs This Week").
These new Series B versions offer additional investor-friendly features that their previous incarnations did not, including a call feature, lower expense ratios, the ability to split shares as needed, and so on.
Biblical ETFs Launch
Also debuting today are two smart beta ETFs from ETF newcomer Timothy Plan, an asset manager focused on "biblically responsible" investing.
Managed by Timothy Partners, Ltd, the funds implement a number of ethically driven screens, excluding companies involved in the production or distribution of alcohol, tobacco, gambling, abortion, pornography, or which promote "anti-family entertainment" or "alternative lifestyles."
The Timothy Plan US Large Cap Core ETF (TPLC) tracks a volatility-weighted index of U.S. large cap stocks created by Victory Capital Management, the fund's subadvisor. More volatile stocks have a lower weighting in the benchmark, according to the prospectus.
TPLC's investable universe consists of the 500 largest U.S. large caps with positive earnings in each of the four most recent quarters. From this, ethical screens are implemented to eliminate offending companies. Exposure to any particular sector is capped at 25%.
Meanwhile, the Timothy Plan High Dividend Stock ETF (TPHD) tracks a similarly constructed volatility-weighted index. From an index of the largest 100 dividend-yielding U.S. large caps with positive earnings over the past four quarters, screens are implemented to remove nonbiblical stocks.
The funds are rebalanced twice yearly. They trade on the NYSE Arca and each cost 0.52%.
VanEck, First Trust Price Changes
Effective today, 12 VanEck ETFs and four First Trust ETFs are getting new expense ratios. Most of these price changes are minimal—a few basis points, at most—and are tied to annual fee waivers implemented for each of the funds to keep operating expenses from exceeding a certain contractual threshold.
Among the impacted ETFs are the $9.2 billion VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) and the $3.7 billion VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETFs (GDXJ), two large and highly traded gold mining ETFs.
The affected ETFs are listed in the table below:
| ETFs With Changes To Expense Ratio | ||||
| Ticker | Fund | Old Expense Ratio | New Expense Ratio | |
| AFK | VanEck Vectors Africa Index ETF | 0.84% | 0.78% | |
| BRF | VanEck Vectors Brazil Small-Cap ETF | 0.59% | 0.60% | |
| CRAK | VanEck Vectors Oil Refiners ETF | 0.59% | 0.60% | |
| EGPT | VanEck Vectors Egypt Index ETF | 0.94% | 0.98% | |
| GDX | VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF | 0.53% | 0.52% | |
| GDXJ | VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF | 0.54% | 0.53% | |
| HAP | VanEck Vectors Natural Resources ETF | 0.49% | 0.50% | |
| ISRA | VanEck Vectors Israel ETF | 0.59% | 0.60% | |
| REMX | VanEck Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF | 0.57% | 0.59% | |
| RSX | VanEck Vectors Russia ETF | 0.67% | 0.65% | |
| SCIF | VanEck Vectors India Small-Cap Index ETF | 0.72% | 0.83% | |
| VNM | VanEck Vectors Vietnam ETF | 0.66% | 0.68% | |
| DALI | First Trust Dorsey Wright DALI 1 ETF | 0.92% | 0.91% | |
| FIW | First Trust Water ETF | 0.56% | 0.55% | |
| FNI | First Trust Chindia ETF | 0.60% | 0.59% | |
| FTCS | First Trust Capital Strength ETF | 0.61% | 0.60% | |
Source: FactSet; data as of 5/1/2019
Contact Lara Crigger at [email protected]
