Precious metals are coming off a strong year in performance and ETF Securities has just added the ETFS Physical Asian Gold Shares (NYSE: AGOL) to its lineup. AGOL is the first U.S. precious metals product to be vaulted in Asia and will be held in Singapore — unlike domestic gold ETF funds like SPDR Gold Trust ETF (NYSE: GLD) or the iShares Gold Trust ETF (NYSE: IAU).
AGOL will custody all of its physical gold bars in secure LBMA approved vaults in Singapore and the shares are backed by London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) gold bars that meet “good delivery” standards.
ETFS has been expanding its lineup of physical metal shares with different storage locations being one of the underlying themes. The company also offers a physical gold bullion product that stores the metal in Switzerland, the ETFS Gold Trust (NYSE: SGOL).
The Asian Gold Shares charge annual fees of 0.39%.
“AGOL offers investors a new alternative to invest in the gold market and diversify their physical gold holdings into Singapore. The launch of AGOL further broadens ETF Securities product lineup and demonstrates our commitment to developing innovative precious metal ETPs,” said Fred Jheon, Head of Product and Business Development of ETFS Marketing.
Aluminum Focused ETF
Separately, Global X Funds, the New York based provider of exchange traded funds, launched the Global X Aluminum ETF (NYSE: ALUM). The launch is the latest expansion in the ETF issuer’s global commodity producer funds and is the first ETF globally focused on aluminum.
The Global X Aluminum ETF tracks the Solactive Global Aluminum Index, which focuses on the most liquid companies globally active in some aspect of the aluminum industry. ALUM is a global equity fund containing 22 stocks and it holds exposure to publicly traded companies from Hong Kong (19.58%), Japan (15.07%), United Kingdom (15%) along with other nations and the U.S. The Aluminum ETF charges annual fees of 0.69%.
Aluminum is one of the most heavily consumed metals in the world, its malleable and corrosion-resistant properties make it important for applications in energy, industrials, and consumer goods. In the last decade, the demand for aluminum has grown 38% compared to 20% for other metals, according to Bloomberg.
ETF Fund Name Changes
Van Eck Global, renamed its Market Vectors Uranium+Nuclear Energy ETF (NYSE: NLR), which was previously known as the Market Vectors Nuclear Energy ETF. The new name was chosen to communicate to investors the relative weight of the uranium mining sub-sector among the seven nuclear energy sub-sectors represented in the DAXglobal Nuclear Energy Index. The Fund’s ticker symbol, NLR, remains unchanged. As of December 31, 2010, NLR had assets of $260 million, making it the largest nuclear energy ETF available to investors.
ETF Acquisitions
Russell Investments announced its intent to acquire U.S. One, a registered investment advisor and ETF provider. U.S. One is the investment advisor to the One Fund (NYSE: ONEF).
ONEF is a diversified global equity ETF of ETFs, provides exposure to 95% of the world’s stock markets with the objective of long-term investment growth. With this move, Russell has taken another step toward establishing its U.S. exchange-traded funds business.
A shareholder vote to approve this change is scheduled for mid-February and the acquisition of U.S. One, Inc. by Russell Investments is anticipated to close shortly thereafter.
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