BNY Mellon DR Indices Chosen for Three New Emerging Market ETF Strategies

NEW YORK, April 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- BNY Mellon Depositary Receipt (DR) indices have been selected by VelocityShares to serve as the benchmark indices for three new emerging market exchange traded funds (ETFs) recently launched by VelocityShares.

The new ETFs are the VelocityShares Emerging Markets Depositary Receipts ETF (EMDR), VelocityShares Emerging Asia Depositary Receipts ETF (ASDR), and VelocityShares Russia Select Depositary Receipts ETF (RUDR). The ETFs track their respective BNY Mellon DR Index: BNY Mellon Emerging Market DR, BNY Mellon Emerging Asia DR, and BNY Mellon Russia Select DR.

According to VelocityShares, the ETFs are the first to offer comprehensive broad-based exposure to emerging market equities with the comfort of developed market securities regulation. The ETFs are listed on NASDAQ and exclusively hold American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) and Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs).

EMDR's top holdings include Samsung Electronics, Taiwan Semiconductor, China Mobile, Gazprom and Itau Unibanco. ASDR's top holdings include Samsung Electronics, Taiwan Semiconductor, China Mobile, CNOOC Ltd. and Hon Hai Precision Industry. RUDR's top holdings include Gazprom, Sberbank, Magnit OJSC, Novatek and Surgeneftegaz.

"As investors look to further diversify their portfolios, there's been increased interest in emerging market equities," said Nick Cherney, chief investment officer and co-founder of VelocityShares. "ADRs and GDRs enable investors to access those equities under the umbrella of regulations that apply to all New York-, London- and Luxembourg-listed securities. That's a comfort to many investors."

"Depositary receipts offer investors seeking diversification a highly efficient and convenient mechanism to invest globally," said Christopher M. Kearns, CEO of BNY Mellon's Depositary Receipts business. "Our commitment to product innovation in the DR space can be seen by the growing number of ETFs benchmarked to the family of BNY Mellon DR Indices."

"We'll continue to work closely with VelocityShares to provide innovative and timely solutions that benefit foreign private issuers as well as the U.S. investment community," said Julio Lugo, BNY Mellon head of sales for DR Indices & Structured Products.

BNY Mellon's DR Index team provides more than 140 indices, and there are now 19 ETFs trading in the U.S., Canada and Korea using BNY Mellon indices as their primary benchmarks. To learn more about BNY Mellon's DR Indices, visit www.bnymellondrindex.com

BNY Mellon acts as depositary for more than 2,700 American and global depositary receipt programs, acting in partnership with leading companies from 68 countries. BNY Mellon is committed to helping securities issuers access the world's rapidly evolving financial markets and delivers a comprehensive suite of depositary receipt services. Learn more at www.bnymellon.com/dr

BNY Mellon is a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment management and investment services in 36 countries and more than 100 markets. As of March 31, 2013, BNY Mellon had $26.3 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $1.4 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon can act as a single point of contact for clients looking to create trade, hold, manage, service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Learn more at bnymellon.com, or follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon

VelocityShares™ is a leader in designing exchange-traded products and volatility-based strategies for institutional investors. The team is focused on developing innovative products that provide sophisticated investors with long-term investment strategies and short-term risk management instruments. VelocityShares is dedicated to providing investors with intelligent solutions for portfolio and trading risk management. The firm's success results from delivering innovative, efficient, and insightful products for a wide range of investors. The team has significant experience across asset classes on both the buy- and sell-sides of the financial markets. Employing that combined knowledge and insight enables the development and delivery of innovative products. The VelocityShares Group includes VLS Securities LLC, a US-registered broker-dealer and wholly owned subsidiary of VelocityShares LLC.  

Alps Advisors, Inc. is the investment adviser to the Velocityshares Emerging Markets Depository Receipts ETF, the VelocityShares Emerging Asia Depository Receipts ETF and the VelocityShares Russian Select DR ETF (together, the "ETFs"). ALPS Portfolio Solutions Distributor, Inc. is the distributor of ETFs. ALPS is not affiliated with BNY Mellon or VelocityShares. 

"VelocityShares" and the VelocityShares logo are trademarks of VelocityShares Index & Calculation Services, a division of VelocityShares, LLC.

This release is for informational purposes only. BNY Mellon provides no advice nor recommendation or endorsement with respect to any company or securities. Nothing herein shall be deemed to constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities. Depositary Receipts: Not FDIC, State or Federal Agency Insured; May Lose Value; No Bank, State or Federal Agency Guarantee.

SOURCE BNY Mellon