In a move that highlights the broadening appeal of products that offer convenient access to Russia, Lyxor Asset Management has launched the first UK-listed exchange traded fund to cover the Russian equity market. The Lyxor ETF Russia, which is based on the Dow Jones Rusindex Titans 10 index covering the 10 biggest Russian companies by market capitalization, is being offered alongside a family of new ETFs covering all four of the big emerging market economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China. ETFs are index-tracking funds that track the performance of a given index and combine the simplicity and liquidity of shares with the diversification benefits of a traditional collective investment scheme. Since Lyxor ETFs are traded on multiple broker-dealer platforms on leading exchanges, they are designed to offer investors maximum liquidity while levying low annual management fees in the 0.15% to 0.85% range.
"Lyxor is particularly proud to be the first issuer to offer a Russian ETF to UK investors," says Daniel Draper, London-based head of Lyxor ETFs for UK, Ireland and the Nordic region. He adds: "Emerging markets such as Russia tend to be difficult to access through the local markets and so that’s where ETFs resonate so well with investors.