3 providers all total have filed plans with Canadian regulators to join the sector with ...
Harvest Portfolios being the first approved to launch Canada's first blockchain ETF.
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It is important to note that 2 other companies are hot on the heels here, looking for entry ASAP to the booming cryptocurrency and blockchain technology sector/space.
Both First Trust Portfolios Canada and Evolve Funds Group Inc. have filed preliminary prospectuses with regulators roughly at the end of Jan. 2018 for blockchain funds.
Meanwhile in the USA, their regulators have stated that such funds aren't ready for regulation under US law.
Dalia Blass is the director of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) investment management group and said that the SEC has:
“significant outstanding questions concerning how funds holding substantial amounts of cryptocurrencies and related products” would satisfy legal requirements in the US in a statement
TLDR version:
In Jan. of 2018 last month, Harvest Portfolios filed a preliminary prospectus with Canadian regulators to introduce an ETF that tracks blockchain technologies.
The fund will begin trading THIS week on the TSE (Toronto Stock Exchange.)
Last week on Feb. 1st, they received approval by the Ontario Securities Commission to launch Canada's FIRST blockchain fund – Blockchain Technologies ETF.
Under ticker symbol HBLK, this fund has a management fee of 0.65 per cent.
Its mandate is to replicate the performance of the Harvest Blockchain Technologies Index - an index designed in-house which tracks the performance of issuers in both the large-cap blockchain segment and the emerging blockchain segment exposed to the development and implementation of blockchain technologies in North America.
First Trust:
Company #2 Seeking Canadian Regulatory Approval.
First Trust is looking to launch the First Trust Indxx Innovative Transaction & Process ETF. The project seeks to replicate the performance of the Indxx Blockchain Index.
BLCK, will be the ticker symbol and it's the 2nd fund provider to file an index fund with regulators in Canada and will have a management fee of 0.80 per cent if approved.
"Every conversation we are having with clients – regardless if we are talking about a Canadian equities product or a U.S equity product – inevitability leads to [a discussion about] blockchain or bitcoin,"
- says Karl Cheong, head of ETFS for First Trust Portfolios Canada.
"The commentary out there right now is that blockchain is the more viable option while bitcoin may not have as many legs in terms of viability; but bitcoin could be the Friendster before the Facebook shows up in the crypotocurrency space. The concept of blockchain is very attractive to investors right now, and while the idea is still very novel, the research shows that this is a technology that could potentially save billions of dollars in cost, and that is very attractive."
First Trust already has a Blockchain ETF trading in the USA, under the ticker LEGR, which will be imitated closely, by the Canadian fund says Mr. Cheong.
Evolve Funds:
Company #3 Seeking Canadian Approval.
Evolve Funds is already known for it's niche lineup of ETF products.
They have also filed to launch in Canada, with the Evolve Blockchain ETF this Thursday, which if approved could be the country's first actively-managed blockchain fund.
Ticker symbol LINK will be online if things go well. The fund aims to actively invest in equity securities of issuers that are involved in the R&D sector, or utilization of blockchain technologies, or involved in the supply chain for blockchain applications including technology hardware.
The management fee is 0.75 per cent.
"Blockchain technology is poised to disrupt virtually every business and industry, including financial services, real estate, health care and government,"
- said Raj Lala, president and chief executive officer of Evolve in a statement.
"Currently, at the base of every digital currency, many compare blockchain to the second coming of the Internet. I believe we are Canada's first actively-managed blockchain ETF, which will allow us to be nimble and potentially capitalize on emerging opportunities."
Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. – which launched Canada's first marijuana ETF– has been exploring opportunities in the blockchain technology arena since last year. The firm filed for a blockchain ETF in the U.S last fall and is very close to filing with Canadian regulators for a Canadian fund as well, says Steve Hawkins, co-CEO and president of Horizons.
"There are a lot of successful companies in this sector, such as Canadian company HIVE,"
-- says Mr. Hawkins.
'If you can't invest in cryptocurrencies directly – and we know that they are here to stay and blockchain is here to stay – why not invest in the companies themselves directly because you know there is going to be a future for them."
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