Some ETFs Launch in Europe, Asia Before U.S.

Although a commissioner with the Securities and Exchange Commission recently said the SEC is trying to streamline its approval process for exchange-traded funds, a number of exchange-traded funds, including leveraged, oil and gold funds, are continuing to debut in Europe and Asia before launching in the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reports.

In fact, one U.S. investment manager has even launched an actively managed ETF overseas. Others available outside the country but not yet in the U.S. cover aluminum, wheat and capital protection.

“It’s a much less stringent registration process” in Europe, said Dodd Kittsley, head of exchange-traded fund research at State Street Global Advisors. “It’s led to new concepts coming out first in Europe and Asia, as opposed to over here, but it is a relatively small market.”

ETF assets in Europe are currently $76.1 billion, according to State Street, compared to $358.3 billion in the U.S.

The staff of Money Management Executive ("MME") has prepared these capsule summaries based on reports published by the news sources to which they are attributed. Those news sources are not associated with MME, and have not prepared, sponsored, endorsed, or approved these summaries.