Paul Britt, CFA
Paul Britt, CFA, senior analyst at ETF.com, a financial-information website based in San Francisco.
To spread out your bets (and your risk), you can buy shares in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invest in dozens of companies that have launched IPOs. Among the attractive ones now…
First Trust US IPO Index Fund (FPX). This fund, launched in early 2006, mirrors an index that tracks the 100 biggest US-based IPO stocks based on market capitalization…excludes stocks that jumped more than 50% on the first day of trading…and does not allow any stock to exceed 10% of the portfolio. The index can add a new stock after the first five days of trading and hold it for up to 1,000 trading days after its initial trade date. The fund’s five-year annualized return of 21.5% is six percentage points higher than that of the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index. Top holdings: Facebook and biopharmaceutical company AbbVie. FTPortfolios.com
Renaissance IPO (IPO) is a more aggressive fund than First Trust, with about 60 holdings and a much higher turnover rate. It tracks an IPO index created by Renaissance, the ETF issuer. Launched in late 2013, it can add a stock after its fifth day of trading and can hold a stock for up to two years after its initial trade date. The fund can buy stocks of foreign companies if they are listed on US exchanges. Top holdings: Alibaba and animal health firm Zoetis. RenaissanceCapital.com