Currency hedged exchange traded funds are among this year’s top asset gathers. In fact, the two best asset-gathering ETFs and three of the top six are currency hedged funds. With that and diverging monetary policies between the U.S. and other major developed markets, it is not surprising that ETF issuers are bolstering their currency hedged lineups.
BlackRock’s (NYSE: BLK) iShares unit, the world’s largest ETF issuer, did just that today, unveiling a massive 11-ETF addition to its already thriving currency hedged suite. With the debut of the 11 new currency hedged ETFs Tuesday, iShares now offers 16 funds that seek to damp currency risk.
The new currency hedged ETFs from iShares include eight single-country funds. Included in that group are five first-of-their-kind ETFs. For example, the iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Australia ETF (NYSEArca: HAUD) is the first Australia-specific currency hedged offering to list in the U.S. The same goes for the iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF (NYSEArca: HEWC), iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Italy ETF (NYSEArca: HEWI), iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Spain ETF (NYSEArca: HEWP) and the iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Switzerland ETF (NYSEArca: HEWL).
iShares also introduced the iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Mexico (NYSEArca: HEWW), iShares Currency Hedged MSCI South Korea ETF (NYSEArca: HEWY) and the iShares Currency Hedged MSCI United Kingdom ETF (NYSEArca: HEWU).
Those funds will compete with offerings from Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management and WisdomTree (NasdaqGS: WETF). Prior to 2015, ex-Japan single-country currency hedged ETFs had struggled to attract assets, but that has changed led by massive asset growth for the Deutsche X-trackers MSCI Germany Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEArca: DBGR), WisdomTree Germany Hedged Equity Fund (NasdaqGM: DXGE) and the iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Germany ETF (NYSEArca: HEWG). [Investors Love Germany Hedged ETFs]
However, beyond Germany and Japan, few single-country currency hedged have yet to attract impressive followings. One notable exception is the Deutsche X-trackers MSCI South Korea Hedged Equity ETF (NYSEArca: DBKO), which has seen rapid asset growth this year as the Bank of Korea has lowered interest rates in a bid to weaken the won. [Currency Hedged ETFs Power This Issuer]
iShares also introduced the iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE Small-Cap (NYSEArca: HSCZ), iShares Currency Hedged MSCI ACWI ETF (NYSEArca: HACW) and the iShares Currency Hedged MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF (NYSEArca: HAWX).
Over 20 new currency hedged ETFs have debuted this year. Last week, ProShares unveiled the ProShares Hedged FTSE Europe ETF (NYSEArca: HGEU) and the ProShares Hedged FTSE Japan ETF (NYSEArca: HGJP). The SPDR EURO STOXX 50 Currency Hedged ETF (NYSEArca: HFEZ) debuted earlier in June.
Deutsche AWM rolled out the Deutsche X-trackers S&P Hedged Global Infrastructure ETF (NYSEArca: DBIF) and the Deutsche X-trackers Dow Jones Hedged International Real Estate ETF (NYSEArca: DBRE) in April. [New Currency Hedged ETFs Debut]