ALPS Introduces STOXX Europe 600 ETF
It has been a trying year for several marquee European equity markets, but that has not stopped issuers of exchange traded funds from bringing new products focused on European stocks to market.
ALPS introduced the ALPS STOXX Europe 600 ETF (NYSEArca:STXX) today. Index provider STOXX licensed the STOXX Europe 600 Index to Colorado-based ALPS. There are 10 ETFs trading around the world that track the benchmark, which accounts for about 90% of the market cap for developed Europe, according to a statement.
The index is one of the broadest measures of European stocks and includes members of the STOXX Europe 200 Mid and STOXX Europe 200 Small indices. Those companies have historically outperformed the members of the STOXX Europe 200 Large Index, according to ALPS.
Only stocks with a three-month average daily trading volume of at least 1 million euros are eligible for inclusion in the new ETF. STXX charges 0.25% per year.
“Launched June 15, 1998, the STOXX Europe 600 Index represents the performance of companies across 18 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK,” said ALPS in the statement.
The U.K. is the new ETF’s largest country weight at 29.25% followed by France at 14.87% and Switzerland at 14.3%. Germany at 12.69% and Spain at 5.41% round out the top-five country weights in STXX.
Five sectors – financial services, health care, consumer staples, industrials and consumer discretionary – receive double-digit allocations in the new ETF. Three Swiss stocks – Novartis (NVS), Nestle (NSRGY) and Roche – are the top-three individual holdings in STXX with weights ranging from 2.31% to 2.69%. Three British and two French firms are also found in the fund’s top-10 holdings.
Other international ETFs from ALPS include the ALPS Emerging Market Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (EDOG) and the ALPS International Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (IDOG) . [Embrace This International Dividend ETF]
ETF Trends editorial team contributed to this post.
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