The world’s most actively traded ETF – based on the NASDAQ-100 index and known by its ticker QQQ – is now available in Europe. The Nasdaq stock market said it has registered the NASDAQ-100 European Tracker – EQQQ — for sale in the UK, Belgium and Ireland.
The ETF is designed to follow the NASDAQ-100 index. John Jacobs, CEO of NASDAQ Financial Products, says the launch would provide European investors with low cost access to the whole range of companies in the NASDAQ-100 in European hours on a European market.
“Based on our experience in the US, our intention is that EQQQ will follow the success of our US product,” he says.
EQQQ is an ETF registered with the Central Bank of Ireland, listed and traded on NASDAQ Europe. It will clear and settle in Europe, helping to cut trading costs. Its expenses are limited to 20 basis points, Nasdaq says.
NASDAQ has also announced a family of exchange-traded funds based on the Bank of New York ADR Indices. The move gives institutional investors broad access to emerging markets through a single dollar-denominated security.
The ETFs – called BLDRS funds – are the first ETFs to be listed on NASDAQ and the first ETFs based on depositary receipts (DRs). The Bank of New York will serve as both trustee and index provider.
Ordinary expenses of each BLDRS fund are capped at 0.30%.
The BLDRS fund family consists of four ETFs. These are the BLDRS Emerging Markets 50 ADR Index Fund, the BLDRS Developed Markets 100 ADR Index Fund, the BLDRS Europe 100 ADR Index Fund and the BLDRS Asia 50 ADR Index Fund.