Van Eck, the parent company of ETF sponsor Market Vectors, has filed plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission to possibly introduce four for new ETFs based on MSCI indexes that focus on fundamental, or “quality” factors.
Market Vectors could introduce the following ETFs, according to the filing: The Market Vectors MSCI Emerging Markets Quality ETF, Market Vectors MSCI Emerging markets Quality Dividend ETF, Market Vectors MSCI International Quality ETF and the Market Vectors International Quality Dividend ETF. The filing did not include tickers or expense ratios for the four funds, indicating a launch date is not imminent.
The Market Vectors Emerging Markets Quality ETF will track an index that is based on the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which is the same underlying index for the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund (NYSEArca: EEM). Constituent countries in that index include Brazil, China, India, South Korea and Taiwan, among others.
The Market Vectors Emerging Markets Quality Dividend ETF will track the MSCI Emerging Markets HDY Index, a market cap-weighted index that includes both large- and mid-cap emerging markets equities. Emerging markets ETFs focused on dividends have grown in popularity in recent years. The WisdomTree Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund (NYSEArca: DEM) has almost $4.9 billion in assets while the SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (NYSEArca: EDIV) has nearly $487 million. [Emerging Markets ETFs With a Dividend Focus]
The Market Vectors MSCI International Quality ETF and the Market Vectors MSCI International Quality Dividend ETF will track indexes that provide exposure to both developed and developing markets such as Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and the UK, according to the filing. [Global Stocks Get Their Own Dividend Dog ETF]
There is already one so-called quality ETF on the market, as Hannah Tool for Index Universe notes. That fund is the iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (NYSEArca: QUAL). QUAL debuted less than two weeks ago and already has nearly $108 million in assets under management.
QUAL’s 125 holdings are based on fundamental factors such as high return on equity, stable year-over-year earnings growth and low financial leverage, according to iShares. Top holdings include Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and Google (NasdaqGM: GOOG).
ETF Trends editorial team contributed to this post. Tom Lydon’s clients own shares of EEM and Google.