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Ishares funds are an initiative developed by
Barclays Global Investors (BGI). These exchange traded funds are bought
and sold the same way as conventional shares. They can be purchased
on margin, used as part of a hedging strategy and used in combination
with other strategies. The transaction costs are the same as for purchasing
shares. There are no entrance and exit fees or ongoing maintenance
fees that mutual funds are subject to. The advantages of iShares Funds are that investors can gain exposure
to a broad array of investment opportunities. Investing in shares
leaves an investor exposed to one particular stock. iShares stock
funds reduce risk because the funds are composed of a basket of
stocks. The constituents of the iShares funds depend on the mandate
of the index. iShares index funds are designed to replicate the
weightings of an index. This may be domestic or foreign holdings.
For investors and traders that are looking to diversify their portfolios,
iShares funds permit investing in foreign based funds, index funds
or funds based on asset or sector classes. An example of an iShares fund is the iShares Dow Jones EPAC Select
Dividend Index Fund. This index replicates the performance of high
dividend yield foreign companies from developed markets such as
Western Europe, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong.
The mandate requires the stock to have positive three year dividend
per share growth rate, a three month average trading volume of at
least 3 million dollars and a dividend payout that matches or exceeds
1.5 times the average of the Dow Jones country index to which it
belongs. iShares funds covered a broad construction of investment classifications
including small cap, mid cap, large cap, value or growth oriented.
They are also constructed to replicate the weightings of domestic
and international indexes. In some cases, such as emerging markets,
iShares funds are constructed according to a weighting of the top
performers in several different countries. An example of this is
the S&P Latin America 40 Index fund based on the Mexican and
South American equity markets as determined by the S&P's Latin
America 40 Index. iShares funds also cover commodity markets including sector representation.
For broad commodity coverage this includes the S&P Commodity
Indexed Trust. iShares trusts such as the Comex Gold Trust and the
Silver Trust. The sector based funds are based on the sectors delineated
by Standard and Poors which include: basic materials, consumer services,
consumer goods, energy, financial, healthcare, industrials, natural
resources, technology, telecommunications, transportation and utilities.
iShares funds are a useful investment alternative to investors
and traders and worthy of investigation for portfolio diversification
and to gain exposure to new markets and asset classes. Next Article: International fund 
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