UBS Enters Commodities Arena With ETN Line | ETF Trends

UBS is getting into the exchange traded game with commodities exchange traded notes (ETNs).

Last week, the firm launched eight ETNs focused on commodities, and the plan is to venture into other asset classes, reports Jesse Emspak for Investor’s Business Daily. The UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index rolled out last year, and the ETNs will track it. The bank chose to go with notes rather than funds because they’re cheaper to issue and simpler to structure.

The index focuses primarily on energy, followed by industrial metals and agriculture. The latest ETNs focus on metals, agriculture, gold, silver, livestock and food, as well as a broad based set of commodities. The notes will have expense ratios of about 0.65%.

A number of funds offer a commodities play, including these exchange traded funds (ETFs):

  • PowerShares DB Agriculture (DBA)
  • Market Vectors Global Agribusiness ETF (MOO)
  • PowerShares DB Base Metals (DBB)
  • iPath Dow Jones AIG Commodity Index (DJP)
  • PowerShares DB Commodity Index Fund (DBC)

The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.