Claymore Securities, Inc. today announced the launch of an ETF suite designed to track three of Wilshire Associates’ broad market indexes: the Wilshire 5000 Total Market ETF (NYSE Arca: WFVK), the Wilshire 4500 Completion ETF (NYSE Arca: WXSP), and the Wilshire US REIT ETF (NYSE Arca: WREI). The Wilshire Indexes, developed by Wilshire Associates Incorporated, (“Wilshire®”), a global independent investment and consulting services firm, have been in existence for more than 35 years and are used extensively by institutional and active money managers as performance benchmarks.
“This is an exciting addition to our growing portfolio of ETF products, extending our line-up into broad-based domestic equities.” commented William Belden, Managing Director, Claymore Securities, Inc. “Leveraging the expertise of Wilshire and their widely followed indexes, investors now have an opportunity to access the U.S. equity and REIT markets with the inherent benefits of ETF investing—efficiency, transparency and flexibility.”
“We are delighted to be working with Claymore to launch these products,” said Dennis A. Tito, founder Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Wilshire Associates who is credited with developing the Wilshire 5000 in 1974 “Utilizing Wilshire’s investment technology and performance measurement heritage, we created the Wilshire 5000 index as a tool for our institutional investment professionals and their clients to measure, understand and explain the market. Each index developed since that time was created to measure a specific section of the securities market in a way that was meaningful for investors,” he noted.
“The Wilshire indexes are designed to give investors a Pure and CompleteSM measure of the market without arbitrary rules and restrictions that introduce biases,” said David L. Hall, Senior Managing Director, Wilshire Associates. “Through these ETFs, investors now have an efficient way to gain total market exposure and access to the institutional-level expertise for which Wilshire is known.”
The Wilshire ETF suite includes:
- WILSHIRE 5000 TOTAL MARKET ETF (NYSE Arca: WFVK) - The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before the Fund’s fees and expenses, of an equity index called the Wilshire 5000 Total Market IndexSM (the “Wilshire 5000”). The Wilshire 5000 seeks to capture the full diversification potential of the U.S. securities market.
- WILSHIRE 4500 COMPLETION ETF (NYSE Arca: WXSP) - The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before the Fund’s fees and expenses, of an equity index called the Wilshire 4500 Completion IndexSM (the “Wilshire 4500”). For investors who already have access to the S&P 500, the Wilshire 4500 provides an easy way to gain exposure to the approximately other 88% of the U.S. stock market, based upon the number of issues in the market.1
- WILSHIRE US REIT ETF (NYSE Arca: WREI) - The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before the Fund’s fees and expenses, of an equity index called the Wilshire US Real Estate Investment Trust IndexSM (“Wilshire US REIT”). For portfolios concentrated in stocks and bonds, exposure to this index seeks to provide investors with the diversification and income potential of the REIT market.
For more information on WFVK, WXSP or WREI please visit www.claymore.com.
About Claymore Securities
Claymore Securities, Inc. offers strategic investment solutions for financial advisors and their valued clients. As an innovator in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), unit investment trusts (UITs) and closed-end funds (CEFs), Claymore often leads its peers with creative investment strategy solutions. In total, Claymore entities provide supervision, management, or servicing on approximately $15.2 billion in assets as of December 31, 2009. Claymore Securities, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Guggenheim Partners, LLC, a global, independent, privately held, diversified financial services firm with more than $100 billion in assets under supervision. Guggenheim, through its affiliates, provides investment management, investment advisory, insurance, investment banking, and capital markets services. The firm is headquartered in Chicago and New York with a global network of offices throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.
About Wilshire Associates
Wilshire Associates, a leading global independent investment consulting and services firm, provides consulting services, analytics solutions and customized investment products to plan sponsors, investment managers and financial intermediaries. Its business units include Wilshire Analytics, which in turn includes the Wilshire Indexes, Wilshire Consulting, Wilshire Funds Management and Wilshire Private Markets. With ten offices on four continents, Wilshire Associates and its affiliates are dedicated to providing clients with the highest quality counsel, solutions and services.
RISK CONSIDERATIONS Investors should consider the following risk factors and special considerations associated with investing in the Funds, which may cause you to lose money, including the entire principal amount that you invest. Equity Risk: The value of the securities held by the Funds will fall due to general market and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the industries in which the issuers of securities held by the Funds participate, or factors relating to specific companies in which the Funds invest. Micro-, Small- and Medium-Sized Company Risk: Investing in securities of these companies involves greater risk as their securities may be more volatile and less liquid than investing in more established companies. These securities may have returns that vary, sometimes significantly, from the overall stock market. Micro-cap companies may be newly formed, less developed and there may be less available information about the company. REIT Risk: Investments in securities of real estate companies involve risks. These risks include, among others, adverse changes in national, state or local real estate conditions; obsolescence of properties; changes in the availability, cost and terms of mortgage funds; and the impact of changes in environmental laws. In addition, a REIT that fails to comply with federal tax requirements affecting REITs may be subject to federal income taxation, or the federal tax requirement that a REIT distribute substantially all of its net income to its shareholders may result in a REIT having insufficient capital for future expenditures. In addition, investments in securities of real estate companies also involves: Interest Rate Risk, Leverage Risk, Liquidity Risk, Management Risk, Property Risk, Regulatory Risk, and Repayment Risk. In addition the Funds are subject to Non- Correlation Risk, Replication Management Risk, Issuer-Specific Changes, and Non-Diversified Fund Risk. Please read the Funds’ prospectus for more detailed information on these risks and considerations.
Wilshire®, the Wilshire IndexesSM, Wilshire 5000 Total Market IndexSM, Wilshire 4500 Completion IndexSM, and Wilshire Real Estate Investment Trust IndexSM are service marks of Wilshire Associates Incorporated (“Wilshire”) and have been licensed for use by claymore. All content of the Wilshire IndexesSM and Wilshire 5000 Total Market IndexSM, Wilshire 4500 Completion IndexSM, and Wilshire Real Estate Investment Trust IndexSM is ©2010 Wilshire Associates Incorporated, all rights reserved. The ETFs are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Wilshire, and Wilshire makes no representations or warranties with respect to the ETFs. Claymore Advisors, LLC, an affiliate of Claymore Securities, Inc., serves as the investment adviser.
Consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and ongoing expenses of the funds carefully before investing. The prospectus or summary prospectus, if available, contains this and other information about the funds. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing. To obtain a prospectus, visit www.claymore.com or contact a securities representative or Claymore Securities, Inc. 2455 Corporate West Drive, Lisle, IL 60532, 800-345-7999.
NOT FDIC - INSURED • NOT BANK - GUARANTEED • MAY LOSE VALUE
Member FINRA/SIPC 3/10
1 Data as of 12/31/09
Contacts:
Edelman
212.704.8261
Melissa.kanter@edelman.com
