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Key Features of ETFs

• Instant stockmarket exposure in one transaction
• Low cost index investment
• Stock exchange liquidity with low bid/offer spreads
• Versatile and flexible to use, eligible for inclusion in Self Select ISAs and SIPPS

You can invest in Exchange Traded Funds (ETF's) through Selftrade using the following providers:

Db x-trackers

Since their launch in January 2007, the list of available ETFs with Deutsche has grown to more than 80 products, the db x-trackers ETFs product range covers various asset classes of Equity, Bond, Credit, Currency, Money Market and Commodity indices. These include innovative products such as the first ETFs on short indices, ETFs on CDS indices, emerging markets such as Vietnam as well as the first ETFs tracking overnight money market rates.

The db x-trackers ETFs are listed on multiple stock exchanges across Europe - Euronext Paris, Borsa Italiana, Frankfurt Xetra, London Stock Exchange and SWX Swiss Exchange l and supported by a number of market makers providing liquidity in the ETFs.

Click here to proceed to the db x-trackers ETF website >

Invesco Powershares

Invesco PowerShares currently offers over 120 compelling investment opportunities through style, industry, commodities, currencies, specialty access and broad market exchange-traded funds (ETFs). In-depth information about these funds as well as ETFs in general is provided here on our website.

Invesco PowerShares is Leading the Intelligent ETF Revolution, providing investment advisers with exceptional asset management tools and market exposure through the replication of enhanced indexes and actively managed ETFs. PowerShares delivers this sophisticated asset management in one of the more benefit-rich investment vehicles available today, the exchange-traded fund.

The PowerShares family of ETFs now includes Actively Managed ETFs. The most recent listings include: an Active Low Duration Fund, an Active Mega Cap Fund, an Active AlphaQ Fund, and an Active Alpha Multi-Cap Fund.

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ishares

iShares is the brand name for one of the world's largest ranges of exchange traded funds (ETFs), which managed by Barclays Global Investors (BGI).

iShares funds combine the advantages of stocks with the benefits of index funds: iShares can be bought and sold like any other shares listed on a stock exchange and provide instant exposure to an entire index through a single security. They therefore combine the flexibility and tradability of a share with the diversification of a fund.

iShares funds are a flexible mechanism for achieving cost-effective market exposure at the level you want and at the moment you need it. The remarkable growth of iShares in recent years is a testament to the diverse uses of these funds in securing returns, managing risk and controlling costs.

iShares funds trade on exchanges in the same way as shares of publicly held companies, and can be bought and sold easily through a wide variety of stockbrokers and financial advisers. iShares funds can be traded in any quantity throughout normal market hours, using all the dealing techniques associated with stocks.

Like other index funds, each iShares fund is designed to reflect the total returns of a specific market index. And like traditional index fund owners, iShares investors have exposure to a pool of securities. However, the trading flexibility and wide range of iShares funds offers new ways of achieving cost-effective exposure

Click here to proceed to the ishares ETF website >

Lyxor

The hallmark of Lyxor ETFs is flexibility. Investors can use them to implement a wide range of investment strategies, such as attaining or hedging exposure to a given market, sector or asset class - regardless of the investment term horizon - from short-term cash equalisation to longer-term investment strategies.

ETFs are revolutionising the investment management landscape. With Lyxor ETFs, portfolio diversification is easy and cost effective. Lyxor ETFs provide virtually exact index (market) tracking in a cost-effective manner when compared to traditional mutual funds. Through Lyxor's range of over 75 ETFs, investors can gain market exposure to single countries, geographic regions, individual sectors, or even different asset classes.

Unlike futures, Lyxor ETFs can be bought in small lots (as little as one share), and do not require any complex documentation, as ETFs are not derivatives. What's more, Lyxor ETF investors do not have to worry about rolling positions or margin needs. Perhaps most importantly, ETFs track many indices on which futures contracts are not available.

Lyxor ETFs can be used to reduce volatility and temporarily hedge a portfolio against unfavourable moves in the benchmark index, as they can be shorted.

This is particularly useful for indices on which no futures contracts exist. In the fixed income space, Lyxor ETFs can be used to quickly adjust the duration of fixed income strategies.

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Selftrade is pleased to introduce the ETFX S-Net ITG Agriculture Business ETF which tracks the S-NET ITG Agriculture Index, a high beta index. The AGRIT Index is made up of 30 global equities from the following four areas:

1. Seeds, Chemicals and Fertilisers
2. Equipment
3. Commodity Agricultural Products
4. Livestock

Agricultural equities vs. agricultural commodities

The value of a portfolio of agriculture equities is often influenced, although not determined, by the prices of the agriculture commodities. In fact, correlations between the prices of agricultural producers and the commodities they produce tend to be low. Like other equities, agricultural companies will be influenced by a number of factors unrelated to agriculture commodity prices, such as earnings, operating efficiency, regulation, management expertise and interest rates.

Furthermore, producers of packaged food products tend not to benefit from rising commodity prices, as their margins often come under pressure as their input costs rise, while resistance to higher prices at the consumer level constrains demand. The equity price trends of "primary" agricultural producers, on the other hand, tend to follow or exceed the price trends of the underlying agriculture commodities, especially when agriculture commodity prices are strongly trending. "Primary" agricultural producers include suppliers of seeds, traits, fertilizers, chemicals, equipment and irrigation systems.

Over time, demand for agricultural products is inelastic - driven primarily by rising populations and improved diets. Agricultural producers, in keeping up with this demand, may suffer the vagaries of commodity market pricing, experiencing substantial price swings based on weather and the size and substance of the current harvest. On the other hand, there is a degree of certainty in that the world will require and ever-growing amount of primary agricultural products.

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