And then there were five. The Global X FTSE Portugal 20 ETF debuts Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “PGAL,” completing the lineup of single-country PIIGS exchange traded funds.
Global X also issues the high-flying Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF (NYSEArca: GREK) while iShares sponsors country-specific funds for Ireland, Italy and Spain. [Run, Don’t Walk to Greece ETF]
PGAL will track the FTSE Portugal 20 Index, which “employs a transparent capping methodology. The underlying stock universe is all equities trading on NYSE Euronext Lisbon,” according to FTSE.
Global X filed plans for PGAL almost two and a half years ago. The new Portugal ETF will charge 0.61% per year, slightly below the 0.65% charged by GREK.
Portuguese stocks have been solid performers this year, gaining 15% year-to-date and 5.6% quarter-to-date, according to Bespoke Investment Group. However, those numbers also make Portugal the worst of the five PIIGS markets. [Month of the PIIGS]
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