One exchange traded fund (ETF) provider is expanding its lineup, while a new one is coming on the scene with a new sector target.

Pax World Management Corp. originally a provider of socially responsible mutual funds, is going to enter into the exchange traded fund(ETF) market with funds tracking the same sector.

The Portsmouth, New Hampshire company has already registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the launch of three new ETFs. Luisa Beltran for Ignites reports that two of the funds, the North American and the Europe Asia Pacific, target companies with strong “environmental, social governance” criteria. The third invests in businesses that use or develop “environmental technologies,” according to the filing.

The new ETFs will be:

• sShares FTSE KLD North America Sustainability Index ETF
  
• sShares FTSE KLD Europe Asia Pacific Sustainability ETF
• sShares FTSE Environmental Technologies (ET50) Index ETF

This is PAX’s first attempt at the ETF industry, as the company was founded in 1971 and offered socially responsible investing with mutual funds. This is a genre of investing that is new and small, with much of the focus on energy conservation, clean energy and socially sound practice. The idea is to take this niche market and transform it into a mainstream investing theme.

Meanwhile, Alps Holdings will launch an equal sector weight ETF, reports Hannah Glover for Ignites. The forthcoming fund is an ETF of ETFs, and is meant to meet advisor demand for sector-weighted products. It will aim to allocate 11.1% among each of the nine sectors in the Merrill Lynch Equal Sector Weight Index, according to the SEC filing.

The closest competitor to the forthcoming Alps product is the Rydex S&P Equal Weight (RSP), which launched in April 2003.

Read the disclaimer, as Tom Lydon is a board member of Rydex Funds.

Tags: Asset Class ETFs, Indexing, New ETFs, Sector ETFs, Socially Responsible ETFs