Van Eck Global Investments has cross-listed the Market Vectors Morningstar US Wide Moat UCITS ETF on SIX Swiss Exchange.
The exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracks the equally weighted Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index developed by Morningstar. Market Vectors Morningstar US Wide Moat UCITS ETF invests in the 20 most attractively priced companies that have the potential for long-term above average returns, according to Morningstar’s moat analysis. The wide moat concept traces back to Warren Buffett’s theory about companies with sustainable competitive advantages.
“MOAT is a unique addition to the European ETF market which is in need of innovation and product differentiation. With MOAT, we wanted to give investors interested in exposure to US equity a true alternative to mainstream benchmark index strategies,” says Lars Hamich, CEO of Van Eck Global (Europe). “MOAT seeks to leverage Morningstar’s proprietary economic moat rating and valuation research. It is this combination that we believe makes the index strategy successful. Since its inception in 2007, the ETF benchmark has outperformed the US equity market with a cumulative performance of 130.58 percent while that of the S&P 500 Index was 72.69 per cent.”
The Market Vectors Morningstar US Wide Moat UCITS ETF offers 100 percent exposure to US-based and US-traded companies. The top three ranks of the ETF basket as of 30 November are held by Autodesk Inc. (6.41 per cent), Applied Materials Inc. (5.66 per cent) and Norfolk Southern Corp. (5.61 per cent). The top three sector weightings were Industrials (24.76 per cent), Consumer Discretionary (24.30 per cent) and Information Technology (21.08 per cent).
The ETF has a total expense ratio of 0.49 per cent and mirrors the strategy of its successful US counterpart that currently has approximately USD 790 million in assets invested. With listings on the London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Börse and SIX Swiss Exchange, Market Vectors Morningstar US Wide Moat UCITS ETF can be traded in US Dollars, Euro and Swiss Francs. The ETF is currently registered for public distribution in nine European countries.
