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EasyETF CAC 40®, the new ETF in the BNP Paribas and AXA Investment Managers joint range is launched on Euronext

Published On 16.03.2005
EasyETF CAC 40® is being launched on 17 March 2005 on Euronext Paris. It is a new ETF in the EasyETF range. Its aim is to replicate the performance of the CAC 40®, the French stock market's benchmark index.

EasyETF CAC 40® is traded in a same way as a stock market share. It is a simple and effective way of gaining fast access to the 40 biggest shares in the Paris stock market. It is aimed at retail and institutional investors.
For institutional investors, EasyETF CAC 40® provides a solution to the issue of strategic (long term) or tactical (short term) asset allocation; it can also be used for hedging.
Retail investors will appreciate the fact that this new instrument is eligible for inclusion in French PEAs (equity-based savings plans) and enables them to diversify their risk with a basket of 40 stocks.
EasyETF CAC 40® is also eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service, which means that investors can capitalise on upward and downward movement in the market.

With no entry or exit fees, EasyETF CAC 40® has very low administrative charges (0.25% including tax of total net assets).

EasyETF CAC 40® is the first ETF launched since BNP Paribas and AXA IM entered into partnership. Like the 15 other ETFs in the EasyETF range, EasyETF CAC 40® will benefit from BNP Paribas and AXA IM expertise in fund management and market making, as well as the complementary distribution networks of their investment bank and fund management companies.

AXA Investment Managers and BNP Paribas (via its subsidiaries BNP Paribas Asset Management and Harewood Asset Management) have joined forces behind EasyETF, the brand name for their joint range of ETFs.
The call for tender launched on 3 September last year to allocate new licences to create new ETFs on CAC 40® resulted in Euronext selecting Harewood Asset Management (which was acting on behalf of BNP Paribas group).


Technical details:

ISIN code: FR0010150458
Fund management company: Harewood Asset Management
Sub-manager: BNP Paribas Asset Management
Currency: Euro
Annual administrative charges: 0.25% including tax of total net assets
Tax regime: Eligible for PEAs (equity-based savings plans)
Allocation of earnings: dividend payout
Share: around 1/100th of the CAC40

Bloomberg Codes:

Quotation: E40 FP Equity
Net Asset Value: VLE40 index

Reuters Code:

Real-time quotes: E40.PA
Net Asset Value: VLE40

Liquidity providers

BNP Paribas
Exane

Authorized participants

Morgan Stanley
Merrill Lynch
Optiver
Société Générale

The EasyETF range

The current range of EasyETF includes 15 ETFs for assets under management of €450 million. It is the first sector range in the eurozone and it includes the first ETF of listed property companies (EasyETF EPRA Eurozone).
- 3 international PEA trackers (Euro Stoxx 50, Stoxx 50 Europe, and Global Titans 50)
- 10 sector ETFs (banks, energy, health, insurance, automotive, construction, media, technology, telecoms and utilities) based on the Euro Stoxx indices
- 1 ETF replicating the ASPI Eurozone, an index of socially responsible companies
- 1 ETF of a listed property company index (EPRA Eurozone)
In 2005, the EasyETF platform plans to develop the product range involving listed property companies and international indices.

BNP Paribas and AXA Investment Managers

BNP Paribas, via its subsidiaries Harewood AM and BNP Paribas AM, shares a core/satellite approach to investment management with AXA Investment Managers which differentiates pure exposure to the market from alpha selection. ETFs fit in with this vision: they are an essential tool for portfolio allocation.
This approach involves the creation of a broad and integrated range of ETFs into which AXA IM and BNP Paribas have pooled their ambitions. In a market which is concentrated but offers very high potential, the two groups have created a significant competitive advantage by teaming together in this way.

AXA IM is a global multi-specialist asset management company. It had €345 billion in assets under management as of 31 December 2004. With over 2000 employees across the globe, AXA IM offers its clients a broad range of complementary expertise with considerable value added: active fundamental equity management and active quantitative equity management (AXA Rosenberg), fixed income management, classic and enhanced money-market funds, structured financing (ABS, CDOs, etc.), structured and balanced management, alternative investments, private equity (AXA Private Equity), multimanagement (AXA Multimanager) and property (AXA Real Estate Investment Managers).

BNP PAM is a leading player in fund management and distribution in Europe with €196.3 billion in assets under management (as of 31 December 2004). Over 1400 people work in its asset management business in around twenty countries. Its investment teams are present in the world's main financial centres including Paris, London, New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong. They are specialised by asset class, management style and geographic region.
BNP PAM is one of the top players in Europe in alternative investments and structured products and offers clients a range of market exposure. Its assets under management currently total over €20 billion and this figure is expected to rise to €40 billion within 3 years.

Harewood AM is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas SA. It specialises in passive fund management for BNP Paribas Investment Bank and is developing the EasyETF range with BNP PAM. The targeted clients are institutional investors looking for dedicated funds for their own needs and small or medium sized networks requiring white label products.

Euronext

Euronext, the first pan-European exchange, results from the September 2000 merger of equity and derivatives markets in Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris. BVLP, the Portuguese exchange and LIFFE, the international derivatives exchange, joined Euronext in 2002. Euronext offers services that include listing of financial instruments, trading in securities and derivatives, data dissemination and IT support. Measured by value and number of trades processed through its central order book, Euronext is the largest cash equity market in Europe. Euronext.liffe, the derivatives business of Euronext, is Europe's second largest derivatives exchange by volume and the value of trading.