Investment house IBI has launched the IBI (4D) SAL Solactive US Internet ETF on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

Shai Sasportas, head of ETF sector, IBI Investment House

The fund tracks the Solactive US Internet Index, which acts as a reference for the performance of US companies operating in the internet sector with a minimum market capitalisation of $500 million.

Eligible companies provide internet-related goods or services and are involved in activities such as network communications, internet access, internet infrastructure, internet software, e-commerce, website design, web hosting, and cloud computing.

The index selects the largest and most liquid companies from the Solactive US Broad Market Index that generate most of their revenues from the internet. The companies are weighted by market capitalisation and are capped at 10%.

There are 60 constituents, which include well-known names such as Twitter (2.6%), Amazon (11.3%), eBay (4.7%), Paypal (4.2%), Netflix (5.5%), and Expedia (2.4%).

Timo Pfeiffer, head of research at Solactive, commented, “The internet has become one of the main drivers of business growth. Through this index, investors can get an overview of the internet sector in the US, understand who the major players are, and gain investment exposure in proportion to their market capitalisation.”

The index has returned 30.4% per annum since inception (12 January 2011) and 9.1% YTD (as of 6 February 2018). Volatility has been 16.3% per annum since inception. It is calculated as a total return index in US dollars and adjusted quarterly.

Shai Sasportas, head of ETF sector, IBI Investment House, said: “After IBI’s success in using Solactive real estate indices, we decided to expand our cooperation and enter into the growing and interesting internet sector.”

IBI has around $12billion in assets under management, $1billion of which is in tracker funds.