Industry disgruntled by iShares proposals

Over-the-counters brings you news and views from the ETF industry.

BlackRock and its ETF business iShares have been vocal in making recommendations for the ETF market but this has not met with much acceptance.

After iShares told a Senate hearing on ETFs that US derivatives-based ETFs should be renamed, ProShares' chief executive Michael Sapir said iShares is pushing its own agenda.

In conversations ETFM has had with ETF providers in Europe - where iShares has also called for changes - there is some agreement with this remark.

Although they support calls for transparency, providers disagree that products should be re-classified in order to achieve this.

Providers also argue that transparency standards are already very high.

One remark that the industry in Europe always makes is that ETFs are bought, not sold. There is no incentive for anyone to push ETFs to end investors because, unlike other funds, they don't pay commission.

This has made the industry a more competitive environment as ETF providers vie for market share without being able to rely on a middle man to distribute their products.

This has had the effect of pushing transparency; the largest European and US providers display daily fund holdings on their websites. In Europe, collateral holdings are also published. Where there is less transparency is on securities lending.

iShares says it will discuss its proposals with regulators. The markets in Europe and the US will no doubt be watching with anticipation to see whether their domestic regulators take on board iShares' recommendations.

PowerShares QQQ has signed a multi-year deal to become title sponsor of the tennis champions' series. The 12 city tour features tennis legends Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, John McEnroe and Jim Courier.

It is currently title sponsor for the PowerShares QQQ Champions Challenge, which took place in Chicago this weekend but from 2012 it will sponsor the entire series, which is a New York-based tennis circuit for champion players over the age of 30.

PowerShares QQQ is an ETF from Chicago-based ETF provider PowerShares, which tracks the Nasdaq 100 index.