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.
