A huge purchase last week in an obscure exchange traded note providing leveraged exposure to U.S. large-caps has mystified trading desks.
UBS AG FI Enhanced Big Cap Growth ETN (NYSEArca: FBG) saw more than 1 million shares traded on May 21. The exchange traded note rally sees more than 50,000 trade on any given day.
Early last week, it appears $600 million worth of FBG shares were created in one fell swoop.
For the week, FBG saw net inflows of $621.6 million, according to IndexUniverse data. It was the top-inflow exchange traded product behind iShares Russell 2000 (NYSEArca: IWM).
FBG delivers 200% of the performance of the Russell 1000 Growth Index.
The ETN started trading in June 2012. UBS launched the ETN less than a month after selling a similar security in the largest equity-linked sale in more than two years, according to a Bloomberg report at the time. The bank sold $946.2 million of structured notes tied to the Russell 1000 Growth Index to Fisher Asset Management LLC a month before FBG listed, according to the article.
UBS AG FI Enhanced Big Cap Growth ETN
Full disclosure: Tom Lydon’s clients own IWM.