Many have begun shifting around bond allocations to hedge against the rising rate environment. On Thursday, investors will also be able to diminish risk in emerging market bond exposure with a new ProShares exchange traded fund.
The ProShares Short Term USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF (BATS: EMSH) will reportedly launch Thursday, Nov. 21.
According to the updated prospectus, EMSH will try to reflect the performance of the DBIQ Short Duration Emerging Market Bond Index, which is comprised of bonds issued from 19 emerging markets. EMSH has a 0.50% expense ratio.
DBIQ index’s selected emerging market countries include Argentina, Bulgaria, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Indonesia, Korea, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam. No single country will have a weighting higher than 10% of the index.
The underlying index only selects bonds with a fixed rate and have between zero and five years to maturity, with a weighted average years-to-maturity of three years or less. Additionally, the index will include investment grade and speculative grade securities. As of November 5, the index held 115 bonds.
The bonds are denominated in U.S. dollars, so investors do not have to be worried about currency risk.
EMSH will be the first short-term emerging market bond ETF. In comparison, the iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF (NYSEArca: EMB), the largest emerging market bond ETF, has a 7.0 year effective duration and a 4.89% 30-day SEC yield. [Corporate Versus Government Debt in Emerging Markets]
For more information on new fund products, visit our new ETFs category.