Swiss Exchange to Launch New ETFs By John Spence September 19, 2000

Whew! Working the ETF beat hasn't been easy this past week. Recently my inbox has been full of messages from our editorial staff asking me if I've heard about the latest European exchange to embrace exchange-traded funds (ETFs). State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) in particular has been keeping me busy with announcements earlier this week that the the bank will be launching new ETFs in Australia and Germany.

Yesterday, the SWX Swiss Exchange announced that it is expanding its main trading segment with the introduction of listed diversified return securities (LDRS), a type of exchange-traded fund. If you haven't heard already, ETFs are the trendy investment products that combine the low costs of index funds with the trading features of stocks.

LDRS were first introduced on the German Deutsche Borse in mid-April, and were the first ETFs to be launched in Europe, with the UK launching its own ETFs later in the month.

The new Swiss LDRS will be managed by Ireland-based European Exchange-Traded Fund Company, an open-ended investment company.

The two LDRS products will track the Dow Jones Stoxx 50 and the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 indexes, and will be listed on ETF, which is part of the main segment of the SWX Swiss Exchange.