Nasdaq, Fidelity debut 'ONEQ' ETF
Exchange traded fund of Nasdaq composite kicks off
By Steve Gelsi, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 1:15 PM ET Oct. 1, 2003
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - The first exchange traded fund representing the 3,357 stocks in the Nasdaq index kicked off trading on Wednesday in a joint effort by the exchange and Fidelity Investments.
The OneQ (ONEQ: news, chart, profile) exchange traded fund drew $414 million in seed capital from CS First Boston, Susquehana Capital Group, Interactive Brokers Group, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Lehman Bros.
The fund began trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq, with JP Morgan Chase acting as a manager of investment.
Fidelity Investments Chief Operating Officer Bob Reynolds said the mutual fund giant took part in the fund because "it's one the customers want."
Fidelity said the fee structure for the ETF will be 30 basis points, which is competitive with others in the financial services business.
The "ONEQ" marks the last major stock market benchmark to get an ETF.
"We believe there's a large market for this," said Fidelity's Sanjiv Mirchandani.
The "OneQ" comes four years after the launch of the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ: news, chart, profile), the most heavily traded ETF.
John Jacobs of the Nasdaq said he originally planned to kick off the OneQ before the QQQ fund, but the Nasdaq first went with the latter because options and futures based on it had already begun trading.
Since then, the Nasdaq has added hundreds of other ETFs, but it had not begun working on an ETF based on the Nasdaq composite until about 18 months ago.
The move by the Nasdaq comes as the exchange continues to face competition from electronic communication networks such as Instinet.
Launching a heavily traded ETF such as the "ONEQ" will help generate trading volume and more revenue on the exchange.
Asked during a press conference on the ETF about corporate governance in wake of the struggles underway at the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq CEO Bob Greifeld said the exchange already meets the best practice guidelines.
"We feel good about our corporate governance," he said.
Steve Gelsi is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com in New York. |
