HomeA new Exchange Traded Fund offers entry into an industry most investors don't know even exists. The fund was created for investors' eager to profit from nanotechnology but who have limited time and resources to investigate nanotech companies. The fund is PowerShares ETF Trust. It is designed to follow the LUX Nanotech Index. This is a new budding area for investment. This fund allows investors to get into this industry early. Since this industry is in the first stages of development, investors may want to invest in a fund such as this rather then investing in a particular company. This is one way of getting in early and spreading the risk.
The most recently introduced ETFs are getting more focused. In the past most Exchange Traded Funds represented broad indexes. Their advantage were that they were Exchange Traded Funds and had advantages over mutual funds, however the areas of investment were similar to index mutual funds. Investors wanted more focused funds. In response to that there are a number of more focused ETFs being introduced now. This is now giving investors a wider choice in their investments then mutual funds. PowerShares has released a number of focused funds in the last year. An example of some recently introduced funds include an Aerospace and Defense portfolio (AMEX PPA). The PowerShares Aerospace and Defense Portfolio is an exchange traded fund designed to track the SPADE Defense Index which is comprised of publicly traded companies focused on homeland and border security, space industry infrastructure, and technological innovations in warfare.
Another new ETF is PowerShares Dynamic Building & Construction Portfolio (AMEX PKB). This fund focuses on the housing industry. Investors believing this industry is still healthy would but this ETF. There have recently been some signs the housing industry may be slowing down. If you are an investor that believes that is true you could short this ETF.
There are more specialized Exchange Traded Funds being introduced all the time. Latest information on Exchange Traded Funds appears on www.exchangetradedfundinvesting.com. This site keeps track of the most popular and also the ETFs providing the highest year to date returns.
About the author: Andrew Goldman is president of Metal Rabbit media services, the operator of Exchangetradedfundinvesting.com. He has written a number of articles on finance and investment over the last ten years.