Pacer ETFs has announced it is changing index provider for its large and mid-cap Trendpilot ETFs, dropping Wilshire Indexes in favour of S&P Dow Jones Indices. The changes, due to come into effect on 1 November 2017, also include new fund names for the trend-following ETFs.
Sean O’Hara, president of Pacer ETF Distributors.
“S&P Dow Jones Indices is a household name in global finance and we’re proud to align our ETFs with such a well-recognized, well-respected name,” said Joe Thomson, president of Pacer Financial. “To offer unique strategies that add value to investors, we must start with the best possible indices. We believe we offer that across our ETF line.”
The Trendpilot series aims to offer downside protection for investors in the case of a prolonged market downturn, while still providing the opportunity for appreciation during sustained market rallies. The Pacer Trendpilot ETF series is based on a trend-following strategy that alternates exposure between a benchmark index and 3-Month US Treasury Bills based on three technical indicators.
Based on the strength of these technical indicators, the ETFs may be 100% exposed to their underlying equity index, 100% exposed to the performance of Treasury Bills, or equally exposed to both.
As of 1 November, the Pacer Trendpilot 750 ETF (PTLC US) will be renamed the Pacer Trendpilot US Large Cap ETF and will subsequently track the Pacer Trendpilot US Large Cap Index. Its total expense ratio (TER) remains unchanged at 0.60%.
Additionally, the Pacer Trendpilot 450 ETF (PTMC US) will be known as the Pacer Trendpilot US Mid Cap ETF and will track the Pacer Trendpilot US Mid Cap Index. The ticker symbols for each fund will remain the same. PTMC’s TER also remains unchanged at 0.60%.
Following the move, the funds will track the S&P 500 Index and the S&P MidCap 400 Index respectively when exposed to equities, dropping the previously used Wilshire US Large Cap Index and the Wilshire US Mid Cap Index.
Sean O’Hara, president of Pacer ETF Distributors, commented: “Utilizing S&P DJI’s indices will allow the funds to function more efficiently and reflects our desire to add transparency to our products. The well-known S&P-branded indices are easy for investors of any level of sophistication to access and track.”
“S&P Dow Jones Indices is honoured to expand its relationship with Pacer ETFs for its established ETF suite,” added Michael Mell, director, product management, custom indices at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “As a calculation agent, S&P DJI enables market participants the opportunity to build index-based concepts and deploy a specialized, proprietary investment strategy while leveraging the experience of a global index provider.”