Reluctant to let Fidelity [profile] have all the fun, BlackRock [profile] iShares filed for 14 actively traded currency ETFs, Barrons' Johanna Bennett writes. Currency ETFs make up a very small part of the market, at 1 percent of ETF assets, Bennett reports, with DWS Investment's[profile] Guggenheim dominating the space.

Bennett quotes S&P Capital IQ analyst Todd Rosenbluth, who said "However to date, few investors have made much use of this ETF investment style in comparison to gaining exposure to the S&P 500 Index or the Barclays Aggregate Bond index through ETFs offered by iShares. That said, with iShares strong product lineup, well-known brand and broad distribution capabilities, we expect the asset base for currency ETFs to increase…"

Morningstar analyst Robert Goldsborough discussed ETFs using M&As to their advantage this summer, Teresa Rivas of Barrons writes. M&A ETFs can track an index taking a long position in a takeover target and short the acquiring company, Riva writes. Credit Suisse Merger Arbitrage Index ETN is one such strategy. Another strategy is a partial equity hedge, which would track an index taking long positions in deal targets and broadly short the global equity markets, such as IQ Merger Arbitrage ETF, which launched in 2009.

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Edited by: Casey Quinlan


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