By Chris Dieterich
NEW YORK--When Twitter Inc.'s shares start trading, which is
expected Thursday morning, no exchange-traded funds on the market
will own the stock out of the gate. But a pair of ETFs are set to
add the stock next week, and others are plotting to catch the stock
in the months ahead.
One ETF likely to buy Twitter at the Oct. 13 closing bell, just
following what would be the stock's fifth day of trading, is the
$98 million Global X Social Media Index ETF (SOCL), according to a
spokesman for the ETF provider. The Global X ETF has had a mammoth
year, climbing 51% on the backs of strong performances from
Facebook Inc. (FB), LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD), Yelp Inc. (YELP) and a
Chinese counterpart to Twitter--Sina Corp. (SINA), according to
Morningstar.
Another is an ETF launched on in the last month: The $29 million
Renaissance IPO ETF (IPO), which is stewarded by
initial-public-offering research-and-investment company Renaissance
Capital LLC. Like the Global X fund, Renaissance Capital's ETF can
buy IPO stocks as soon as after the fifth trading day, though it
can also wait longer, according to the ETF's prospectus. This fund
can pick IPOs that hit the market with over $100 million in market
value, and top holdings include Facebook, Zoetis Inc. (ZTS) and
Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (KORS).
One ETF that is likely to wait longer before buying Twitter is
the $250 million First Trust US IPO Index ETF (FPX), the first
IPO-related ETF on the market. This ETF requires more seasoning in
the stocks it buys. But its index methodology means that it could
add Twitter shares as soon as the close of trading on Dec. 20,
according to the ETF provider.
While the slow play in IPO buying misses out on the first-day
pop, it also skips some of the noise associated in early IPO
trading, says Josef Schuster, founder of IPOX Schuster LLC, the
research-and-investment firm that provides the index for First
Trust IPO ETF.
The First Trust IPO ETF took its time to buy Facebook last year,
and to great effect. Mr. Schuster bypassed his first chance to buy
Facebook in the summer of 2012 amid concerns that corporate
insiders selling shares might dilute the social-media company's
stock price, he says.
Instead, the ETF picked up shares of the company in September
2012. Since then, Facebook, the ETF's largest current holding, has
more than doubled. The First Trust US IPO Index ETF is up 45% over
the past year.
Mr. Schuster says he is still undecided about Twitter, and says
it will look a lot less attractive if strong demand pushes the
stock price sharply higher.
"We generally don't include companies that have strong pop of
more than 60%," he says.
Write to Chris Dieterich at christopher.dieterich@wsj.com
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