Van Eck launches Coal ETF

Van Eck Global launched trading of the Market Vectors–Coal ETF (KOL) on the New York Stock Exchange today. The exchange traded fund will enable U.S. investors to gain exposure to a broad spectrum of companies involved in the transport, equipment manufacturing, and production of coal. The ETF aims to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Stowe Coal Index (COAL), which is a basket of the securities of coal companies worldwide listed on global exchanges. The fund carries an expense ratio of 0.65%. The arrival of KOL comes a week after the Market Vectors-Lehman Brothers AMT-Free Long Municipal Bond Index ETF was launched by Van Eck on the American Stock Exchange. (InvestmentNews, Jan. 7). The New York City-based asset manager also launched the Market Vectors-Lehman Brothers AMT-Free Intermediate Municipal Index ETF on the Amex in early December. Van Eck has $9.2 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2007 including seven ETFs with a total of $3.6 billion in assets under management.