Houses of the Holy ETFs
by Don Dion
The first few months of 2009 were marked with a collection of curious religion-oriented ETF pitches. Earlier this April, for instance, FaithShares Advisors filed with the SEC for funds streamlined to suit the lifestyles of specific Christian denominations. FaithShares anticipates featuring such ETFs as the Baptist Values Fund, the Catholic Values Fund, the Lutheran Values Fund or even the Methodist Values Fund in their revolutionary new breed of ETF.
The general trend of these financial enigmas is somewhat reminiscent of the "socially responsible ETFs," such as iShares KLD Select Social Index, or even possibly environmentally aware ETFs, such as PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy and PowerShares Global Wind Energy. However, the names of these funds can be considered somewhat misleading.
Most of the shares within these religious ETFs do not tie directly into their associated denominations. Instead, the ETFs gain their "religious" background through the underlying principle...
Jim Cramer
In Defense of Filthy-Rich Investment Banks
They had willing buyers for their proprietary products, and there was no deception.
MORE >>
Don Dion
Build On My Skepticism
The BAB could be a nice short-term play on growing demand for the Build America Bonds.
MORE >>
Rev Shark
Sudden Drop in Gold Causes a Wrinkle
Other than that, the market seems to be complacent to a fault.
MORE >>
With RealMoney You Get:
- Actionable ideas straight from
Wall Street to you
- A front row seat to the most authoritative financial forum in town
- Immediate access on your
iPhone or Blackberry
© TheStreet, Inc., 14 Wall Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10005.
