Canadian Bank BMO Launches First 9 ETFs In Europe

A new provider has entered the European exchange traded fund (ETF) market with the launch of nine funds that offer investors access to currency hedged bonds and dividend stocks.

Canadian bank BMO Global Asset Management has listed nine ETFs on the London Stock Exchange today – four focus on global corporate bonds, and five track the highest dividend-yielding companies. All the new ETFs are listed in Sterling and are currency-hedged for any overseas exposure.

The three global corporate bond ETFs and one global high yield ETF track the Barclays Very Liquid Index, a subset of the Barclays Global Aggregate Bond Index, and cost 0.30 percent and 0.35 percent respectively. They are all Sterling-hedged.

Kevin Gopaul, head of ETFs at BMO Global Asset Management, said: “These are the first ETFs to offer a range of specific global corporate bond maturity bands, allowing investors to position their portfolios more precisely on the yield curve.”

The equity ETFs cost 0.35 percent per year for income stocks in the U.S., Europe and the UK, while the currency hedged versions for the U.S. and Europe ex-UK cost 0.40 percent.

BMO Global Asset Management launched its European brand earlier this year and already runs more than 60 ETFs in Canada and three funds in Hong Kong. The launch follows the announcement by Indian macro-analytics firm that it plans to enter the ETF market in Europe with the launch of the region’s first fund range tracking both Indian equities and bonds.

The new funds and their tickers are listed below:

BMO MSCI USA  Income Leaders UCITS ETF (ZILS)

BMO MSCI Europe ex-UK Income Leaders UCITS ETF (ZILE)

BMO MSCI UK Income Leaders UCITS ETF (ZILK)

BMO MSCI USA Income Leaders (GBP Hedged) UCITS ETF (ZISG)

BMO MSCI Europe ex-UK Income Leaders (GBP Hedged) UCITS ETF (ZIEG)

BMO Barclays 1-3 Year Global Corporate Bond (GBP Hedged) UCITS ETF (ZC1G)

BMO Barclays 3-7 Year Global Corporate Bond (GBP Hedged) UCITS ETF (ZC3G)

BMO Barclays 7-10 Year Global Corporate Bond (GBP Hedged) UCITS ETF (ZC7G)

BMO Barclays Global High Yield Bond (GBP Hedged)  UCITS ETF (ZHYG)