Courtney said that the city-based ETF was created on the idea that every city’s economy functions as its own ecosystem with unique resources, legislation and demographics. Nashville has been known as America’s healthcare hub, #1 market in the country for job growth in 2012 and ranks among the most business friendly cities.
“The Nashville area has realized significant growth with our GDP exceeding $87 billion in 2011, up 6.05% from the previous year,” Ralph Schulz, president and CEO of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, said in the press release. “We feel we are ideally situated for continued growth when you consider our geographical location and that Nashville is one of only a dozen major U.S. cities connected to three major interstates. These attributes along with our competitive tax structure and strong workforce have allowed for a diverse base of publicly traded headquartered companies, and our competitive economic development and recruiting programs have us poised for further growth.”
Other ETFs that have tried to give targeted geographic exposure to the U.S. have not been so popular. In 2009, two state-specific ETFs, Texas Large Companies ETF (TXF) and Oklahoma ETF (OOK), both closed due to poor investment demand.
For more information on new fund products, visit our new ETFs category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.