By Index Funds Staff

Barclays Global Investors (BGI) announced its plans to launch a UK-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the new FTSE ExUK 100 Index. The FTSE ExUK 100 Index will be calculated from December 14, and a full list of the constituent companies will be available at the FTSE website on December 15.

FTSE is an index provider set up jointly by the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange to manage and expand stock exchange indexes in the United Kingdom.

BGI said that it plans to launch the ETF, called the iFTSE ExUK, on December 18, 2000. The iFTSE ExUK will be listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), within extraMARK, under the ticker symbol IEUR.

The new FTSE ExUK 100 Index will be comprised of the largest 100 companies in Europe (excluding the UK) by market capitalization.

The iFTSE ExUK fund will have an annual expense ratio of 0.50% and will disclose portfolio holdings daily.

The iFTSE ExUK is the UK's third ETF, joining the iFTSE 100 and the iFTSE TMT, both of which are also managed by BGI. The iFTSE 100 provides exposure to the UK's 100 largest companies, while the iFTSE TMT contains UK-based technology, media, and telecommunications companies.

ETFs traded on the London Stock Exchange

ETF name	Ticker symbol	Underlying index	Inception date	Expense ratio
iFTSE ExUK	IEUR	FTSE ExUK 100 Index	12/18/2000*	0.50%
iFTSE TMT	ITMT	FTSE TMT Index	10/17/2000	0.50%
iFTSE 100	ISF	FTSE 100 Index	4/28/2000	0.35%

* pending regulatory approval
Source: Barclays Global Investors

"Many investors want exposure to Continental European markets, but establishing cross border trading accounts and the resultant currency risk make investing prohibitive," said John Demaine, Director of iShares for BGI. "iFTSE ExUK meets this demand head on with no currency risk and is available to all the customers of UK stockbrokers, bringing with it the transparency, ease of access and value for money."

12/12/2000