Betashares adds new US ETFs to fund line-up



Betashares has expanded its exchange traded funds (ETF) suite to 21 funds with the addition of two currency hedged funds focusing on returns from US equity exposures.
The BetaShares Geared US Equity Fund — Currency Hedged would have an exposure to the 500 largest securities listed in the US, weighted by market capitalization with the fund holding a gearing ratio of between 50 — 65 per cent with all borrowing obligations met internally by the fund.
The BetaShares US Equities Strong Bear Hedge Fund — Currency Hedged will invest into cash and sell S&P 500 equity index futures contracts to generate returns when that index moves. The ETF's short exposure to the S&P 500 index will generally vary between 200 and 275 per cent of the Fund's net asset value.
BetaShares Managing Director Alex Vynokur said the funds were driven by investor demand and tapped into interest for access to international equities via exchange traded products (ETPs).
He said international equities were the most popular ETP product category in the first half of 2015 and had attracted around $1.2 billion of net inflows in the six months of this year.
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