ActiveETFs | InFocus

Providing the most extensive and focused coverage of Active ETFs

A New Rush – BlackRock iShares and Huntington Asset Join Active ETFs

Posted by Shishir Nigam On June - 18 - 2010         Note: See important disclaimers below article

On June 17th, two more players in the asset management space, BlackRock iShares (filing) and Huntington Asset Advisors (filing), filed to launch new actively-managed ETFs. June is turning out to be another month where there has been a deluge of players filing for plans to enter the Active ETF space. The first two weeks of June have already seen AdvisorShares filing for two new Active ETFs, as well as Drefyus and Horizons AlphaPro filing to launch more such products.

BlackRock iShares already has an existing actively-managed ETF which is the iShares Diversified Alternatives Trust (ALT: 49.917 -0.48%) which is the only Active ETF on the market to follow a hedge fund like strategy. The new filing plans is quite general as was the Dreyfus filing earlier this week, but it does provide a preview of two new ETFs that are in the works. Given how generic the current strategies are, both funds are likely to become more refined and have a more focused strategy that would be revealed closer to their launch. Both funds will be advised by BlackRock Fund Advisors. :

1. iShares Active Fixed Income Fund – The objective of this fund will be to provide a combination of income and capital growth and it will use quantitative models to allocate assets amongst various sectors. Interestingly, the filing indicates that this fund will get its exposure by investing 80% of its assets in other ETFs advised by BFA that in turn invest in the fixed-income markets. So it appears that this initial fund will be looking to invest through other ETFs.

2. iShares Active Equity Fund – This fund will look to provide long-term capital appreciation and will invest in domestic large caps in general, based on the relative return potential of the securities.

The other issuer that filed for actively-managed ETFs was Huntington Asset Advisors which has been managing money since 1917 and currently has $13 billion in assets under management . The advisor is a subsidiary of The Huntington National Bank. Huntington has filed to get relief for two quite interesting funds that are detailed in its prospectus:

1. Global Rotating Strategy Fund – This fund will looks to achieve capital appreciation by investing in equities from different market segments such as small-cap, large cap, global equity, on the basis of current economic conditions and which segment is the most attractive give those conditions. The only sector rotation fund in the Active ETF space currently is in Canada, the Horizons AlphaPro Seasonal Rotation Fund (HAC).

2. EcoLogical Strategy Fund – This fund also tries to achieve capital appreciation by investing in domestic stocks that satisfy one or more environmental themes. The fund can invest in companies of varying market cap and even those in foreign markets. This fund would be the first “green” oriented actively-managed ETF, if it comes to market.

 
Disclosure: No positions in above-mentioned names.

If you haven’t already subscribed to ActiveETFs | InFocus, do it here via Email or via RSS feed!
 
Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed on EtfsHub are those of the author alone and do not in any way represent the official views, positions or opinions of the employers – both past or present – of the author in question, or any other institutions and corporations associated with the author. Neither the information nor any opinions contained or expressed above and elsewhere on EtfsHub constitutes or should be construed as a solicitation or offer by EtfsHub to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments or to provide any investment advice or recommendations. None of the material above and elsewhere on EtfsHub is intended to endorse or promote any company or its products. EtfsHub shall not be liable for any claims or losses of any nature, arising indirectly or directly from use of the information on or accessed through the site. Please see full disclaimers here.

View Comments to “A New Rush – BlackRock iShares and Huntington Asset Join Active ETFs”

  1. [...] filing by iShares to launch both equity and fixed-income actively-managed ETFs could just be seen as yet another [...]

  2. [...] fund into an actively-managed ETF. However, not much was heard on the topic since then until the filing by Huntington Asset Advisors on June 17th to launch two new Active [...]

  3. [...] fund into an actively-managed ETF. However, not much was heard on the topic since then until the filing by Huntington Asset Advisors on June 17th to launch two new Active [...]

  4. [...] ETFs on the market or have filed to launch them in the future. Another major development came from Huntington Asset Advisors that filed to launch an Active ETF but more significantly, also indicated that it plans to roll one [...]

  5. [...] filing by iShares to launch both equity and fixed-income actively-managed ETFs could just be seen as yet another [...]

  6. [...] This is Huntington’s second filing for launching actively-managed ETFs. In early July, Huntington made the headlines by filing to launch two funds – the Global Rotating Strategy Fund and the EcoLogical Strategy [...]

Leave a Reply

blog comments powered by Disqus
Get Adobe Flash playerPlugin by wpburn.com wordpress themes