Scottrade Adds S&P Equity Research Services to its Online Trading Site

NEW YORK, April 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Standard & Poor's Equity Research announced today that Scottrade, a leading branch-supported online investing firm, has added S&P's Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) research to its online trading site, further expanding the ETF research available to Scottrade customers.

"At Scottrade, we are committed to providing our customers with the tools they need to be more informed investors," said Steve Walkenbach, Scottrade's executive director of business and product development.  "S&P's ETF research provides insightful information to individuals and advisors seeking to identify potential investment opportunities in the rapidly growing ETF marketplace."

S&P provides exchange-traded fund research and currently covers close to 500 equity ETFs. The firm's proprietary research process combines elements of qualitative and quantitative analysis to create relative rankings that can be used by advisors and investors to help them select funds and build portfolios. S&P's multivariate process includes 10 analytical elements, of which six are proprietary to the firm, when producing the output that determines the S&P Overall ETF Rankings. These elements are grouped within Performance Analytics, Risk Consideration or Cost Factors. For example, S&P STARS rankings by the S&P Equity Research team are an important element in Performance Analytics.

"We are pleased that Scottrade has decided to add our ETF product to its investing research platform," said Andrea Remyn, Managing Director, Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services.  "The past year has seen significant growth in investor interest in exchange-traded funds and research is an important component in helping individuals and advisors understand and invest in this market."

Scottrade's ETF Center covers more than 900 ETFs, and includes a customizable ETF Screener, an ETF Education Center, and ETF News and Commentary that investors of all trading styles can use to create their own ETF strategies. Information about ETFs can also be found in the firm's publicly-available Knowledge Center.

Scottrade first began providing its customers with S&P equity research, commentary, and analysis in 2001. In addition to providing this research to individual investors, advisors using Scottrade Advisor Services as their custodian also have access to S&P research.

About Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services

As the world's largest producer of independent equity research, Standard & Poor's licenses its research to global institutions for their investors and advisors.  Standard & Poor's team of experienced U.S., European and Asian equity analysts use a fundamental, bottom-up approach to assess a global universe of multi-asset class securities across industries worldwide.  Follow Standard & Poor's equity analysts' U.S. market commentary each day at http://www.equityresearch.standardandpoors.com/.

Analytic services and products provided by Standard & Poor's are the result of separate activities designed to preserve the independence and objectivity of each analytic process. Standard & Poor's has established policies and procedures to maintain the confidentiality of non-public information received during each analytic process. Standard & Poor's does not trade for its own account. The analytical and ethical conduct of Standard & Poor's equity analysts is governed by the firm's Research Objectivity Policy, a copy of which may also be found at www.standardandpoors.com. Standard & Poor's and its affiliates provide a wide range of services to, or relating to, many organizations, including issuers of securities, investment advisers, broker-dealers, investment banks, other financial institutions and financial intermediaries, and accordingly may receive fees or other economic benefits from those organizations whose securities or services they may recommend, rate, include in model portfolios, evaluate or otherwise address.  

About Standard & Poor's

Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), is the world's foremost provider of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. With offices in 23 countries and markets, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for 150 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit http://www.standardandpoors.com.  

About Scottrade

As a leading online investing firm, Scottrade offers a full line of investment products, online trading services and market research tools to help investors take control of their financial future. Scottrade is dedicated to personalized customer service and value, providing customers the convenience of buying many stocks online at just $7 per trade and the support of the largest branch network among online investment firms, with more than 450 nationwide branch offices. Scottrade has been named one of FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" in America for three consecutive years. For more information, visit www.scottrade.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.

About Scottrade Advisor Services

Scottrade Advisor Services is a division of Scottrade, Inc., dedicated to supporting the needs of independent registered investment advisors. Scottrade Advisors Services' low commissions coupled with personalized customer service through dedicated relationship teams, makes Scottrade Advisor Services an exceptional value for advisors looking to grow their practices. With no advisor enrollment fee and no minimum asset requirement, Scottrade Advisor Services has the account management tools for advisor practices of any size. For more information, please visit www.advisor.scottrade.com

Investors should consider the investment objectives, charges, expense, and unique risk profile of an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) carefully before investing. Leveraged and Inverse ETFs may not be suitable for long-term investors and may increase exposure to volatility through the use of leverage, short sales of securities, derivatives and other complex investment strategies. A prospectus contains this and other information about the ETF and should be obtained from the issuer. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

SOURCE Standard & Poor's