Smart-Beta Water ETF Launched
Summit Water Capital Advisors in La Jolla, Calif., has launched a smart-beta ETF that offers exposure to globally listed water utilities and industrials equities.

The Summit Water Infrastructure Multifactor ETF (WTRX) trades on NYSE Arca and tracks a proprietary index created in collaboration with Chicago-based Zacks Index Services.

The index includes 30 to 50 companies that dedicate a significant portion of their business to the global water industry. The holdings are selected using a three-factor model that ranks them based on Summit’s research, then weights them based on dividend yield rather than market capitalization to further enhance the yield of the index.

WTRX has a total expense ratio of 0.80%.
 

iSectors Rolls Out Liquid-Alts ETF
Appleton, Wis.-based iSectors LLC has rolled out an actively managed liquid alternative ETF.

The iSectors Post-MPT Growth ETF (PMPT) trades on the Nasdaq and has a total expense ratio of 1.55%. The fund uses iSectors’ proprietary flagship investment model, the iSectors Post-MPT Growth Allocation, which aims to improve upon the principles of modern portfolio theory by applying modern research and technology.

iSectors’ strategy uses monthly changes in more than a dozen economic and market factors, including interest rates, money supply, inflation and unemployment rates, to estimate an optimal portfolio allocation and maneuver portfolios as markets and the economy change, investing in nine asset classes to ensure diversification.
 

Direxion Offers Unlevered Inverse Euro Financials ETF
With a strategy that seems tailored to any future Brexit-related fallout or any upheaval caused by potentially contentious elections on the docket on the continent, Milwaukee-based Direxion has created a new European financials inverse ETF.

The Direxion Daily European Financials Bear 1X Shares (EUFS) seeks 100% of the inverse performance of the MSCI Europe Financials Index. 

The product, which trades on NYSE Arca, is intended to help tactical managers hedge against downturns in the MSCI Financials Index and gives investors an unleveraged alternative to Direxion’s existing leveraged ETF that also tracks the index’s inverse performance.

EUFS has a net expense ratio of 0.45%.
 

Cambria Creates Emerging Market Dividend ETF
Cambria Investment Management in El Segundo, Calif., has introduced a dividend yield-focused emerging market ETF.

The Cambria Emerging Shareholder Yield ETF (EYLD), which trades on the Bats exchange, tracks the price and yield performance of the Cambria Emerging Market Yield Index consisting of 100 companies that have been identified based on their financial health and their ability to return free cash flow to shareholders in the form of buybacks and dividends. In addition to free cash flow, the index methodology considers debt reduction and yield.

EYLD has a net expense ratio of 0.69%.
 

PureFunds Debuts HealthTech ETF
PureFunds has launched the PureFunds ETFx HealthTech ETF (IMED), which invests in companies providing transformative technology to the health-care and medical industries in the areas of health-care informatics, medical instruments and medical appliances.

The fund trades on the Nasdaq and carries an expense ratio of 0.75%. IMED tracks the ETFx HealthTech Index (HTXRI), which has 60 constituents and is equally weighted within each of its categories.

It’s the eighth fund from PureFunds, a New York City-based company that focuses on innovations in traditional sectors.

Amplify ETFs Launches Dividend-Focused Fund
The Amplify YieldShares Prime 5 Dividend ETF (PFV) is the first YieldShares ETF to enter the market via the Amplify platform. PFV is a portfolio of the five highest-ranked U.S. Dividend ETFs, based on the Prime 5 U.S. Dividend ETF Index scoring and selection criteria in the following three categories: 1) high dividend income; 2) low share price volatility and 3) low expenses.

PFV tracks the Prime 5 U.S. Dividend ETF Index. While the Index holds five dividend ETFs, the underlying exposure of these ETFs equaled more than 750 dividend-paying stocks as of July 31, 2016. In addition, the largest single stock exposure in the overall portfolio was 5.2% as of that date.

Amplify ETFs purchased exchange-traded fund provider YieldShares LLC in September. Amplify aims to create ETFs based on investment strategies from index providers and asset managers focused on distinctive market segments, while YieldShares focuses on income investment strategies. As a result of the deal, YieldShares will serve as Amplify’s sub-brand of income-oriented investment strategies.

Elkhorn Teams Up With Research Affiliates And Dorsey, Wright On Two New ETFs
Elkhorn Investments LLC has introduced two exchange-traded funds that are collaborations with two of the country’s leading investment research houses.

In one corner is the Elkhorn Fundamental Commodity Strategy ETF (RCOM), which is based on fundamental research from Research Affiliates, the Newport Beach, Calif.-based company founded by smart-beta pioneer Rob Arnott. This is the first commodity ETF based on Research Affiliates’ fundamental research.

In the other corner is the Elkhorn Commodity Rotation Strategy ETF (DWAC), which is the first commodity ETF based on Dorsey, Wright & Associates’ (DWA) proprietary Relative Strength methodology.

RCOM is an actively managed ETF that benchmarks to the Dow Jones RAFI Commodity Index. It attempts to track the index by investing in exchange-traded commodity futures contracts and other commodity-linked instruments. The fund will also invest in short-duration, high-quality and highly liquid bonds to collateralize its exposure.

Research Affiliates’ index uses price momentum and roll yield to attempt to outperform the broad market, as well as a dynamic weighting methodology to adapt to volatile commodity markets. RCOM will have 1099 tax reporting.

The DWAC fund is described as the first purely tactical commodity ETF on the market. DWAC’s commodity exposure is based on a model developed by DWA using its proprietary Relative Strength methodology. The model evaluates a universe of 21 commodities and provides equal-weighted exposure to the five commodities exhibiting the highest relative strength. The ETF also employs an intelligent roll strategy to mitigate the potential negative impact of contango, and invests in a short–duration portfolio of highly liquid, high-quality bonds.

As with the RCOM fund, investors in DWAC will receive a 1099 tax form versus the K-1 forms often associated with commodity ETFs.
 

ProShares Rolls Out Oil ETF With No K-1
The name of the ProShares K-1 Free Crude Oil Strategy ETF (OILK) says it all about one of its chief value propositions: namely, it’s billed as the only U.S. ETF that lets investors get crude oil exposure but skip the K-1 tax form.

OILK is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, unlike other crude oil ETFs that are commodities partnerships. Like other 1940 Act funds, OILK will provide shareholder tax reporting information on 1099 forms, not the K-1 form issued by partnerships.

OILK provides exposure to the West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures market in an actively managed ETF. The fund's strategy seeks to outperform certain index-based strategies by actively managing the rolling of crude oil futures contracts, which can potentially mitigate losses from contango (when new contracts are more expensive than expiring ones) and help the fund benefit from backwardation (when new contracts are less expensive than expiring ones).