DIVI Franklin International Core Dividend Tilt Index ETF

This week, Wall Street digested the latest U.S. GDP data, which came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.0% in the second quarter. For the first half of 2014, the economy managed to eke out positive growth, expanding at a 0.9% pace [see How Well Do Defensive ETFs Actually Work?].

On the earnings front, Lorillard, Phillips 66, Waste Management, Reynolds American, and UPS reported worse-than-expected results, while American Express, Pfizer and Merck managed to beat analyst expectations.

In ETF news, Direxion launched three new 2x bull funds, while AdvisorShares rolled out its new actively managed dividend fund. 

Behavioral Finance Behind New Dividend ETF

AdvisorShares debuted its Athena High Dividend ETF (DIVI), which is actively managed by AthenaInvest Advisors, LLC. The managers use a behavioral finance approach to identifying securities for DIVI’s portfolio. Stocks are screened and selected using the Portfolio Manager’s patented research. The research measures behavioral factors of active equity fund investment managers (strategy, consistency and conviction) and identifies stocks that are held in the top relative weight positions of their portfolios.The selected securities are then dividend weighted. 

Commenting on the new fund, Noah Hamman, chief executive of AdvisorShares, stated: “The need for shareholder yield is well known, however, most equity dividend funds focus on dividends first and stock selection second. DIVI aims to provide high yield to investors while taking a patented behavioral approach to stock selection. We feel many investors are seeking high income with less exposure to credit and interest rate risk, and DIVI looks to provide an established investment approach to selecting stocks with the additional benefits of a high yielding dividend income strategy. We believe DIVI, with its active ETF structure, is positioned to present a compelling single investment diversifier for investors and advisors to consider.”

Three New Bull Shares

Direxion introduced three new 2x leveraged funds:

• Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bull 2x Shares (SYTL) offers 200% exposure to the NYSE 7-10 Year Treasury Bond Index, which is a multiple-security fixed income index that aims to track the total returns of the intermediate 7 to 10 year maturity range of the U.S. Treasury bond market. The fund charges 0.60%.
• Small Cap Bull 2x Shares (SMLL) offers 200% exposure to the Russell 2000 Index, which measures the performance of the small-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe. The fund charges 0.60%.
• Daily Mid Cap Bull 2x Shares (MDLL) offers 200% exposure to the S&P Mid Cap 400 Index, which measures the performance of the mid-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe. The fund charges an expense ratio of 0.60%.

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Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.

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