Barclays unveils international index ETF

Barclays Global Investors of San Francisco has launched the iShares Dow Jones EPAC Select Dividend Index exchange traded fund on NYSE Arca today. The index, which measures the performance of the 100 high dividend paying non-U.S. companies in developed markets-excluding real estate investment trusts-and includes representatives from include Canada, Western Europe, Japan, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. In order to be included in the index, stocks must have a positive, three-year dividend-per-share growth rate, a dividend payout ratio of less than or equal to 1.5 times the five-year average payout ratio of the Dow Jones country index to which it belongs, and a three-month average daily dollar trading volume of at least $3 million. The index weights stocks by using a combination of indicated annual dividend in order to determine component weights within each country, and dividend yield in order to determine country weights within the index. Eligible stocks are ranked in descending order by indicated annual dividend yield, and the top 100 components are selected for the index. Since its inception in December 2005, the index has an annualized return of 31.21% and has been tracked since December 31, 1998. The fund trades under the ticker symbol "IDV" and has an expense ratio of 0.50%.