NEW YORK. Dec. 8, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Rydex today unveiled six new equal weight (EW) ETFs, which are ETFs that weight investment holdings equally across either index constituents and/or market segments.  A pioneer in the EW ETF space, the firm’s flagship ETF, Rydex S&P Equal Weight ETF (RSP), was launched in 2003 and has grown to approximately $2 billion in assets under management.  The ETF line-up at Rydex, with the exception of CurrencyShares, is known in the marketplace as RydexShares(SM), and includes nine sector ETFs.

The addition of these six new ETFs brings Rydex’s total number of EW ETFs to 16 and total number of exchange traded products to 34, with assets over $6 billion. reflecting the firm’s continued dedication to being a leader in EW investing.  

The new ETFs, which began trading today on the NYSE Arca, are:

• Rydex Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF (EWRI)
• Rydex Russell 2000 Equal Weight ETF (EWRS)
• Rydex Russell Midcap Equal Weight ETF (EWRM)
• Rydex MSCI EAFE Equal Weight ETF (EWEF)
• Rydex MSCI Emerging Markets Equal Weight ETF (EWEM)

In addition, the Rydex MSCI All Country World (ACWI) Equal Weight ETF (EWAC) is estimated to begin trading on January 12, 2011 .

RSP has demonstrated how an EW strategy can deliver strong investment results relative to a cap weighted strategy.  Since inception on April 24, 2003. the ETF has delivered an annualized 8.63% versus 5.15% for the S&P 500 Total Return Index as of September 30, 2010.  

For the 1 and 5 year periods ended September 30, 2010. RSP ranked 73 out of 2,022 and 148 out of 1,913 funds, respectively, in the Morningstar U.S. Large blend category.   Morningstar rankings are based on total return.  For additional performance details see performance charts below.  

Equal weight ETFs offer a compelling alternative to traditional market cap-weighted ETFs, said Mike Byrum. chief investment officer, quantitative strategies for Rydex.  Not only do equal weight funds employ a disciplined quarterly rebalance, a practice which can result in selling high and buying low, they also offer increased diversification* advantages across the constituents within each index.

As an example of how cap weighting differs from equal weighting, in the cap-weighted MSCI Emerging Markets Equal Weight Index, 50% of the index is comprised of the top 10% of the companies as of Q3 2010, which can result in concentration risk.  In the new MSCI Emerging Markets Equal Weight ETF, that same top 10% of names are exactly that: 10% of the portfolio, resulting in greater diversification.

By offering investors and advisors a broad suite of global equity equal weighted ETFs, we are providing an efficient way for investors and advisors to diversify their portfolios while potentially providing enhanced investment results, said Rich Goldman. CEO of Rydex.  The RydexShares equal weight ETFs may act as a solution for investors seeking to optimize their portfolios to meet today’s challenging asset allocation needs.  

About Rydex

Rydex manages approximately $21 billion in assets-including more than $6 billion in exchange traded product assets.  Rydex offers institutional investors and financial intermediaries a broad spectrum of traditional and nontraditional investment options that span four distinct disciplinesfundamental alpha (actively managed equity and fixed-income), alternative strategies, target beta strategies and ETFs.  

For more information call 800-820-0888.

*Diversification neither assures a profit nor eliminates the risk of experiencing investment losses.