Denver, CO (PRWEB) March 24, 2014
The Barron's 400 ETF (NYSE Arca: BFOR), which seeks to track the Barron's 400 Index, has completed its semi-annual rebalance based on the reconstitution of its underlying benchmark.
Technology companies showed the biggest increase in sector representation and now account for 15.50% of the index. Consumer Discretionary and Industrials, at 20% and 18.75% respectively, are the two sectors with the heaviest overall representation. Financials underwent the largest reduction but still represent 16.75% of the index.
Some of the more prominent additions to the Barron's 400 Index (B400) were Facebook, eBay, Monster Beverage, Fortress Investment Group and Paychex.
Since B400 is equally weighted at the beginning of each rebalance period, each new company added, along with all remaining components from the prior period, will represent 0.25% of the index.
Some of the larger deletions included JP Morgan Chase, Celgene, Starbucks, Yahoo and Buffalo Wild Wings.
"The Barron's 400 Index consistently selects some of the most promising public companies in the United States based on their fundamental attributes," said Carlos Diez, MarketGrader's president and founder. "Our adherence to a consistent growth-at-a-reasonable price selection strategy remains a key to B400's ongoing results."
Following the rebalance after the close of trading on Friday, March 21, 2014, the average market cap of B400 was $18.18 billion, the average revenue was $10.25 billion, the average net income was $1.21 billion, the average return on equity was 50.5% and the average operating margin was 22.8%, underscoring the quality of the companies regularly selected to the index.
In total 153 companies were added to the index, a turnover rate of 38.25% that was slightly below the historic average of 42%.
There were 42 companies selected to the index for the first time ever, including Kraft Foods, Brown Forman, KKR & Co., Lions Gate Entertainment and Astronics, to name a few of the most widely followed among them.
Among current index constituents, the companies with the most selections to B400 since its inception are Microsoft, Wal-Mart, Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Depot, IBM, Nike, Oracle and Pepsi.
MarketGrader uses 24 proprietary measures of growth, value, profitability and cash flow to grade nearly all investable U.S. stocks, the underlying index from which B400 is selected.
Based on MarketGrader's exclusive rating system, all stocks in the underlying universe are assigned a grade on a scale of 0-100. The average grade of all companies deleted in the current rebalance was 56.32, while the average grade of all new additions is 67.48.
Subscribers to the MarketGrader.com service have access to its full research coverage.
Barron's 400 Rebalance Sector Rotation as of March 18, 2014
(Number of stocks, with percentage sector weightings, with prior weightings in parentheses)
1. Consumer Discretionary -- 80 Stocks, 20.00% (Prior Weighting 20.00%)
2. Industrials -- 75 Stocks,18.75% (Prior 18.00%)
3. Financials -- 66 Stocks, 16.75% (18.25%)
4. Technology -- 62 Stocks, 15.50% (13.75%)
5. Energy -- 34 Stocks, 8.50% (9.75%)
6. Health Care -- 29 Stocks, 7.25% (8.50%)
7. Materials -- 28 Stocks, 7.00% (5.50%)
8. Consumer Staples -- 24 Stocks, 6.00% (5.25%)
9. Telecommunications -- 1 Stock, 0.25% (0.25%)
10 Utilities -- 0 Stocks, 0.00% (0.00)
Note: Sector weightings in the B400 are subject to change
The top five sub-industries by component count in the newly rebalanced B400 are Investment Managers with 16 stocks; Oil & Gas Production, 15; Specialty Stores, 11; Finance/Rental/Leasing 11; and Chemicals/Specialty 11.
The rules-based B400, an equal weighted index, was jointly developed by Barron's one of the nation's leading financial news publishers, and MarketGrader, a stock research firm.
For more information about the Barron's 400 ETF (BFOR), under the ALPS Trust, please visit http://www.barrons400etf.com.
Performance
Total Returns as of 12/31/13
Barron's 400sm ETF (NAV) (2) -- 1 Month 2.09%, 3 Month 9.93%, Since Inception (1) 19.65%
Barron's 400sm ETF (Market Price) (3) -- 1 Month 2.09%, 3 Month9.97%, Since Inception19.65%
Barron's 400 Index sm (Benchmark)(4) -- 1 Month 2.15%, 3 Month 10.08%, Since Inception 20.10%
Performance data quoted represents past performance. Part performance does not guarantee future results. Current performance may be higher or lower than actual data quoted. Call 1.855.724.0450 or visit http://www.barrons400etf.com for current month-end performance. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more of less than their original cost.
(1) Fund inception date of 06/03/2013.
(2) NAV is an exchange-traded fund's (ETF) per-share value. The per-share dollar amount of the fund is derived by dividing the total value of all securities in its portfolio, less any liabilities, by the number of fund shares outstanding.
(3) Market Price is based on the midpoint of the bid/ask spread at 4 p.m. ET and does not represent the returns an investor would receive if shares were traded at other times.
(4) The Barron's 400sm, calculated by NYSE Euronext or its affiliates, measures the performance of a diversified group of U.S. companies selected in part based on fundamentals-related rules-based criteria. The index includes companies that have scored highest according to fundamentals-related rankings calculated by MarketGrader. Additional rules-based screening provides for sector and market cap diversification. The index has been licensed to MarketGrader Capital LLC for use with the Barron's 400 Index sm. You cannot invest directly in an index.
About ALPS
ALPS provides customized asset servicing and asset gathering solutions to the financial services community through an entrepreneurial culture based on the commitment to "Do Things Right." Founded in 1985, ALPS continues to actively promote all of its various business segments, from asset servicing through ALPS Fund Services, Inc. to asset gathering through ALPS Portfolio Solutions Distributor, Inc., ALPS Distributors, Inc. and ALPS Advisors, Inc. Headquartered in Denver, with offices in Boston, New York, Seattle and Toronto, ALPS, a wholly-owned subsidiary of DST Systems, Inc., today represents more than 400 employees, over 200 clients, and an executive team that has been in place for more than 18 years. For more information about ALPS and its services,, visit http://www.alpsinc.com . Information about ALPS products is available at http://www.alpsfunds.com.
Important Disclosures
An investor should consider investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. To obtain a prospectus, which contains this and other information, call 1.855.724.0450 or visit http://www.barrons400etf.com. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.
There are risks involved with investing in ETFs including the loss of money. Additional information regarding the risks of this investment is available in the risks section of the prospectus.
Barron's 400sm ETF shares are not individually redeemable. Investors buy and sell shares of the Barron's 400sm ETF on a secondary market. Only market makers or "authorized participants" may trade directly with the Fund, typically in blocks of 50,000 shares.
The Fund is new and has limited operating history.
ALPS Portfolio Solutions Distributor, Inc., 1290 Broadway, Ste. 1100, Denver, CO 80203 is the distributor for the Barron's 300sm ETF.
"The Barron's 400 Indexsm" is calculated by NYSE Euronext or its affiliates and published by Markegrader. "Barron's(c)," Barron's 4000sm" and "Barron's 400 Indexsm" are trademarks or service marks of Dow Jones & Company, Inc. or its affiliates and have been licensed to MarketGrader. One cannot invest directly in an index.
Barron's (c) is a service mark of Dow Jones & Company and has been licensed to MarketGrader Capital LLC for use with the Barron's 400 Index sm and sublicensed for certain purposes by ALPS Advisors, Inc. ALPS's Barron's 400 sm ETF based on the Barron's 400 Index sm, is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Dow Jones, or its affiliates, and Dow Jones and its affiliates make no representations regarding the advisability of investing in such product.
ALPS, A DST Company, and ALPS Portfolio Solutions Distributor, Inc., are not affiliated with Barron's or MarketGrader.
Contact:
Patricia Lobato
ALPS, A DST Company
1290 Broadway, Suite 1100
Denver, CO 80203
303.623.2577
