AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) and BNP Paribas announce that the EasyETF GSNE and the EasyETF EPRA Eurozone will start trading on the 9th of June on the Italian Stock Exchange ETF platform, MTF .
The EasyETF GSNE is the first non-energy commodity ETF to be introduced on the Italian Stock Exchange. It has experienced strong growth since its first launch on the Deutsche Börses ETF platform, XTF, in February 2006. Its assets under management (AUM) reached USD $160 million three months after its first quotation.
The GSNE index, a sub-index of the world-class Goldman Sachs Commodity Index -GSCI- series consists of the non-energy constituents of the GSCI index. Currently the GSNE index includes 18 commodities from four main non energy sectors: agriculture, livestock, industrial metals and precious metals. With historically low correlation with bonds and equities, non-energy commodity is an asset class offering additional diversification possibilities in portfolio management.
The EasyETF EPRA Eurozone was the first European real estate ETF listed on the French Euronexts NextTrack segment in December 2004 and then on the Deutsche Börses ETF platform, XTF, in February 2006. It has been a great success among investors and is a leading real estate ETF in Europe in terms of AUM reaching €340 million at the end of May 2006.
The EasyETF EPRA Eurozone offers an exposure to the listed real estate market with an innovative, transparent and liquid investment vehicle: the FTSE EPRA NAREIT Eurozone index, which comprises 38 property stocks representative of the listed real estate sector in the Euro zone. This index was launched in May 2000 in response to growing demand from investors for a comprehensive property index.
Marie-Pierre Ravoteur & Véronique Rauturier, Co-Heads of the EasyETF Development platform jointly managed by AXA IM and BNP Paribas, commented: As trading and allocation tools, the EasyETF GSNE and the EasyETF EPRA Eurozone will allow Italian investors to optimise and diversify their portfolio. Our aim is to offer investors continuous innovative solutions which will fit their needs. Within the following weeks, we expect to expand the quotation of the EasyETF GSNE in other European countries.
Banca IMI will be acting as official Market Makers and Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas and Susquehanna as Authorised Participants.
Source: AXA IM
