By Index Funds Staff

An exchange-traded fund (ETF) based on the the AEX Index, a cap-weighted index comprised of 25 leading stocks traded on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, began trading Wednesday, 5/30/2001. The new ETF, called the streetTRACKS AEX Index ETF, is managed by State Street Global Advisors (SSgA). The latest addition to the streetTRACKS family now brings the count to eleven - SSgA now manages 24 ETFs total worldwide.

This new ETF is available only to residents of the Netherlands, and has an expense ratio of 0.30%. It is the latest ETF launched on the Euronext exchange.

The total market cap of the AEX Index is approximately $484 billion. The chart below shows performance of the index since November 1992:

Source: Reuters

For those who are keeping track, this latest launch brings the total number of ETFs trading globally to 151 (including HOLDRs).

S&P/TOPIX 150 Futures Approved for U.S. Trading

Standard & Poor's announced that futures contracts based on the S&P/TOPIX 150 index have been permitted for offer and sale in the U.S.

The S&P/TOPIX 150 was recently selected by Japan's Financial Services
Agency as one of four indexes eligible to become the basis of an ETF in Japan.
Barclays Global Investors (BGI) is expected to issue an ETF based on the
S&P/TOPIX 150 later this year on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE).

The S&P/TOPIX 150 is a broad index consisting of the 150 largest and actively-traded stocks on the TSE.

06/01/2001