Not exactly (in fact not at all) Small Caps related - however some of you may have noticed the announcement yesterday by Global X of their new ETF ("not" the Nasdaq 100 - but rather the "US 100" :)) - N100

I found the announcement somewhat obtuse and a little confusing and was wondering why ...

As it happens I was chatting with Kanish from Global X yesterday and he was at pains to explain that this ETF is NOT the "Nasdaq 100" and definitely does not follow that particular licenced index (NASDAQ-100 Index)

The index in use for N100 is "the Mirae Global X US 100 Index" which "aims to track the performance of 100 of the largest companies listed on the US market, excluding financials and REITs"

Shocker, back testing shows it happens to have a correlation of 0.99 to the Nasdaq 100 however, and it achieves this with an MER of 0.24%pa which is significantly cheaper (half the cost of) than say Betashares NDQ with an MER of 0.48%pa

Note other ETF's on the Aus market have also done similar things in the past (using cheaper "similar" indexes - my words not the ETF providers :)) - e.g. Betashares A200 which follows the Solactive Australia 200 Index (and undercuts the MER) vs State Street STW and iShares IOZ which both follow the S&P/ASX 200 Index

Game On... (for lower ETF fees)