The NASDAQ, in cooperation with the Bank of New York, developed this family of ETFs which includes four different funds. Each fun focuses on a set geographical area, and invests in the leading companies in that area.

The four BLDRS funds are

Fund Ticker Symbol
1. BLDRS Emerging Market 50 ADRE
2. BLDRS Developing Market 100 ADRD
3. BLDRS Europe 100 ADRU
4. BLDRS Asia 50 ADRA

:These four funds, unlike most ETFs, don’t invest in stocks but rather in American Depositary Receipts. ADRs are an alternative to stocks of foreign companies, and there is more information about them in chapter 2.

Shares of BLDRS are traded in the NASDAQ.


Table 24
The 10 Largest Coroporation Held BLDRS Europe 100 (2nd quarter of 2006)

Company Market Cap 
(billions of dollars)
Country Sector
1 BP 233 UK Energy
2 HSBC Holdings 203 UK Finance
3 GlaxoSmithKline 167 UK Pharmaceutical
4 Total 152 France Energy
5 Royal Dutch Shell PLC “A” 129 UK Energy
6 Vodafone Group 128 UK Communications
7 Novartis 125 Switzerland Pharmaceuticals
8 USB 108 Switzerland Finance
9 Sanofi – Aventis 101 France Pharmaceuticals
10 Royal Dutch Shell PLC “B” 96 UK Energy

iShares

Barclays, a British bank, developed the largest family of ETFs. The iShares brand includes more than 80 different funds. Some of these funds track indices, while others target specific sectors and countries. Most iShares funds are traded on the AMEX.

Table 25
lists some of the countries that are tracked by different iShares funds and table 26 shows the different sectors the funds cover.
Countries Targeted by iShares EFTs

Australia Germany South Africa
Austria Italy South Korea
Belgium Japan Spain
Brazil Malaysia Sweden
Canada Mexico Switzerland
Chaina Netherlands Taiwan
France Singapore United Kingdom

Table 26
Business Sectors With iShares Funds 

Basic Materials Financial Semiconductors
Biotechnology Healthcare Software
Consumer Goods Industrials Industrials Technology
Consumer Servicies  Natural Resources Transportation
Energy Real Esteat Utilities

All this information and more can be found in the iShares website.