State Street to Launch European ETFs Based on MSCI Indexes By IndexFunds.com Staff October 19, 2000

Today, State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) announced that it has entered into a license agreement with MSCI to launch exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in Europe based on MSCI indexes. The announcement is the latest move by an asset manager to release ETFs in Europe, where the products are in the relatively early stages of acceptance by institutional and retail investors. According to SSgA, it currently manages over $31 billion in 22 ETFs worldwide.

The agreement covers products based on MSCI European regional and sector indexes such as Information Technology, Telecommunication Services, and Health Care.

"European investors continue to seek easy access to market segments, and meaningful asset allocation tools," said Timothy B. Harbert, President of SSgA. "In partnering with MSCI, we aim to meet the needs of these investors by bringing ETFs to Europe that combine these attributes in an easily tradable package."

Although Barclays Global Investors (BGI) currently offers iShares ETFs based on MSCI indexes, the BGI funds are based on country-specific indexes and are traded and listed in the U.S. The new SSgA ETFs will be focused on European sectors, although there may be some country-specific ETFs included in the new offerings.

According to SSgA, it has plans to roll out a dozen new European ETFs based on MSCI indexes, although SSgA has yet to announce which exchanges the new funds will trade on.