17 Aug (NucNet): New York-based asset manager Van Eck Global launched an investment fund this week designed to track the strength of the nuclear power industry.
Van Eck’s Market Vectors-Nuclear Energy exchange-traded fund (ETF) is structured to replicate the price and yield performance of the DAX Global Nuclear Energy Index, a basket of 38 nuclear energy-related securities calculated and maintained by Deutsche Borse. It began trading on Wednesday 15 August 2007 on the American Stock Exchange under the ticker NLR.
Half the index is comprised of uranium mining and exploration companies such as Cameco and Paladin Resources. Nuclear plant builders such as Hitachi and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries make up 32.4 percent of its holdings.
Other components include equipment makers, uranium enrichers, uranium storage firms and nuclear fuel transport companies. US companies make up only four percent of the fund’s holdings.
“As the first ETF listed in the US to target the global nuclear energy industry, we believe that NLR will appeal to investors looking for a convenient means to gain exposure to that industry,” said Jan van Eck, principal at Van Eck Global.
“If nuclear energy maintains its current share of world electricity production, the nuclear energy industry could double in size by 2030. If it increases its share, which we think is likely, it will grow even faster.”
Standard & Poor’s this week launched a Global Nuclear Energy Index that includes 20 of the largest publicly traded companies in the global nuclear energy business from both developed and emerging markets. The index is equally distributed between two clusters: nuclear materials, equipment and services, and nuclear energy generation.
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
Global Prospects For Nuclear Power Improving, Says EIA Report (World Nuclear Review No. 21, 25 May 2007)
New ‘Brown Book’ Shows Increased Nuclear Share In OECD Countries (News No. 148, 14 June 2007)
