ProShares Lists Covered Bond ETF

By Michael Johnston:Last week marked yet another first for the ETF industry, as ProShares rolled out a product that delivers access to a unique corner of the fixed income market.

By Stoyan Bojinov:An industry veteran and a newcomer have ramped up activity on the product development front during an otherwise quiet week before the holiday weekend.

By Tom Lydon: As advisors and investors are beginning to expand their fixed-income allocations and create layered levels of risk in an investment portfolio, Van Eck Global, the money manager behind the Market Vectors exchange traded fund line, on Wednesday launched a new emerging markets high yield bond fund to meet the growing demand for alternative fixed-income investments.

By Tom Lydon: ProShares has launched its first leveraged and inverse exchange traded funds that follow CBOE Volatility Index futures. ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (UVXY) will try to reflect 200% of the daily performance of the S&P 500 VIX Short-term Futures Index. UVXY has an expense ratio of 0.95%.

By Tom Lydon: Fixed-income investors seeking more targeted exposure to the corporate bonds markets now have more options to choose from as BlackRock's iShares exchange traded fund division rounded out its suite of corporate credit quality offerings Thursday.

Tom Lydon submits: ProShares, known for its extensive line of alternative investment styles and a large suite of leveraged and inverse funds, launched its first inverse high-yield bond exchange traded fund (ETF) on Tuesday.

By Tom Lydon: ETF Spotlight on iShares iBoxx $ HY Corp Bond Fund (HYG), part of an ongoing series. Assets: $14.2 billion. Objective: The iShares iBoxx & High Yield Corporate Bond Fund tries to reflect the performance of the iBoxx $ Liquid High Yield Index, which is comprised of liquid U.S. dollar-denominated, high-yield corporate bonds.

Tom Lydon submits: ProShares, known for its long/short leveraged exchange traded funds (ETFs), has recently launched a new addition that will cover the short-term U.S. Treasury market. This week’s timing was fortuitous as Treasury bonds came under pressure Wednesday and investors fretted over a potential government shutdown.