Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have an interesting history here in the US and around the world. Beginning in 1989 as Index Participation Shares, a proxy of the S&P 500, they were traded on the American Stock Exchange and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. After inception, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange filed a successful lawsuit stopping all sales in the US.
Trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, a new product called the Toronto Index Participation was launched in 1990. Initially tracking the TSE 35 then soon after the TSE 100 these shares quickly grew popular. Around the same time the American Stock Exchange created a product to fit SEC regulations and began trading in the United States.
In January of 1993 Nathan Most, an executive with the exchange, created Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts. Widely know as SPDRs or "Spiders," the fund became the largest in the world. MidCap SPDRS were introduced to the market shortly after in May of 1995.
In 1996 Barclays Global Investors which is a subsidiary of Barclays pls entered the game with World Equity Benchmark Shares, or WEBS which was later renamed iShares MSCI Index Funds Shares. These indexes were very innovative simply because they gave your every day investors easy access to invest in the foreign marketplace. As a first of their kind, WEBS were set up as a mutual fund while SPDRS were set up as unit investment trusts.
"Sector Spiders" were introduced to the market in 1998 by State Street Global Advisors. The "Sector Spiders" were built to track the nine sectors of the S&P 500. "Dow Diamonds" as they were introduced in 1998, tracked the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Since then ETFs have multiplied and reached a variety of sectors, commodities, regions, bonds, futures and several other asset groups. Over 680 ETFs existed by May of 2008 in the U.S. Assets of these 680 ETFs were at $610 billion and had a $125 billion increase above the previous 12 months. - 32163
Trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, a new product called the Toronto Index Participation was launched in 1990. Initially tracking the TSE 35 then soon after the TSE 100 these shares quickly grew popular. Around the same time the American Stock Exchange created a product to fit SEC regulations and began trading in the United States.
In January of 1993 Nathan Most, an executive with the exchange, created Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts. Widely know as SPDRs or "Spiders," the fund became the largest in the world. MidCap SPDRS were introduced to the market shortly after in May of 1995.
In 1996 Barclays Global Investors which is a subsidiary of Barclays pls entered the game with World Equity Benchmark Shares, or WEBS which was later renamed iShares MSCI Index Funds Shares. These indexes were very innovative simply because they gave your every day investors easy access to invest in the foreign marketplace. As a first of their kind, WEBS were set up as a mutual fund while SPDRS were set up as unit investment trusts.
"Sector Spiders" were introduced to the market in 1998 by State Street Global Advisors. The "Sector Spiders" were built to track the nine sectors of the S&P 500. "Dow Diamonds" as they were introduced in 1998, tracked the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Since then ETFs have multiplied and reached a variety of sectors, commodities, regions, bonds, futures and several other asset groups. Over 680 ETFs existed by May of 2008 in the U.S. Assets of these 680 ETFs were at $610 billion and had a $125 billion increase above the previous 12 months. - 32163
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