Looking to capitalize on the success of the First Trust US IPO Index Fund (NYSEArca: FPX), First Trust has filed plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission to possibly launch an international equivalent.
The new ETF would be called the First Trust International IPO ETF and track the IPOX International Index, according to the SEC filing. IPOX is also the index provider for FPX.
“The Index is a market-cap weighted portfolio measuring the performance of the top non-U.S. companies ranked quarterly by market capitalization in the IPOX(R) Global Composite Index. The Index utilizes a 10% capping on all constituents and includes the 50 largest, typically best performing and most liquid initial public offerings (“IPOs”) of companies domiciled outside the United States in the IPOX(R) Global Composite Index,” according to the filing.
The filing did not include a ticker or expense ratio for the international IPO ETF, indicating a launch is not imminent.
FPX debuted in April 2006 and now has $486.2 million in assets under management. FPX’s underlying index measures “the average performance of U.S. IPOs during the first 1000 trading days. Index constituents are selected based on quantitative initial screens,” according to First Trust.
The ETF’s largest holdings include Facebook (NasdaqGS: FB), AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV), General Motors and Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX).
FPX holds an array of spin-offs and companies that were once public, then privatized in private equity deals only to go public again. The ETF is up 23.3% in the past year. [Misnomers Still Surround IPO ETFs]
The most recent new ETF to be introduced by Illinois-based First Trust was the First Trust Dorsey Wright International Focus 5 ETF (NasdaqGM: IFV). The international answer to the already popular First Trust Dorsey Wright Focus 5 Fund (NasdaqGM: FV), IFV debuted last week.
First Trust US IPO Index Fund
ETF Trends editorial team contributed to this post.