Looking to capitalize on the success of the wildly popular PowerShares Buyback Achievers Portfolio (NYSEArca: PKW), Invesco’s (NYSE: IVZ) PowerShares , the fourth-largest U.S. issuer of exchange traded funds, is bringing a PKW equivalent to Europe.
The PowerShares Global Buyback Achievers UCITS ETF is trading under the ticker “BUYB” in London and Europe. The PowerShares Global Buyback Achievers UCITS ETF tracks the Nasdaq Global Buyback Achievers Index. [NASDAQ Looks to Boost ETF Footprint]
BUYB is the first product developed which is based on the successful Nasdaq Buyback Achiever Index family to launch in the UK and Europe, according to a statement issued by NASDAQ OMX (NasdaqGS: NDAQ).
“The Nasdaq Global Buyback Achievers Index is comprised of securities from the Nasdaq US Buyback Achievers Index and the Nasdaq International BuyBack Achievers Index. The Nasdaq US Buyback Achievers Index is comprised of corporations that have effected a net reduction in shares outstanding of 5% or more in the trailing twelve months and the Nasdaq International BuyBack Achievers Index is comprised of corporations that have effected a net reduction in shares outstanding of 5% or more in its latest fiscal year,” according to the statement.
The the Nasdaq International BuyBack Achievers Index serves as the benchmark for the PowerShares International BuyBack Achievers Portfolio (NYSEArca: IPKW), which debuted in February and now has $17.5 million in assets under management.
BUYB “offers an innovative yet simple factor-based way to invest in global equities. Through the underlying index, the PowerShares Global Buyback Achievers UCITS ETF provides access to a ‘smart beta’ approach to investing in companies that return value by buying back shares. Buybacks can be more tax-efficient than dividends, and this new ETF offers a low-cost, transparent and liquid vehicle through which to access this strategy,” said Bryon Lake, Head of Invesco PowerShares – EMEA in the statement.
PKW is up 8.6% this year while IPKW has traded slightly lower since coming to market. Only five PowerShares ETFs have accumulated more new assets over the past year than PKW.
PowerShares International BuyBack Achievers Portfolio
ETF Trends editorial team contributed to this post.