New York, June 7, 2006— NASDAQ Global Funds, Inc. (NGF) today
announced that its Board of Directors has approved stock splits for each of the
four exchange traded funds (ETFs) included in The Basket of Listed Depositary
Receipts (BLDRSSM
) Index Funds Trust. NGF is the sponsor of Trust. The payment date for the
stock splits will be July 7, 2006, payable to stockholders of record on June
22, 2006.
The board authorized holders of the BLDRS shares to receive additional BLDRS
shares for each share they own in the following ratios:
| The BLDRS Asia 50 ADR Index FundSM (NASDAQ:ADRA) |
Three-for-one |
| The BLDRS Developed Markets 100 ADR Index FundSM (NASDAQ:ADRD)
|
Three-for-one |
| The BLDRS Emerging Markets 50 ADR Index FundSM (NASDAQ:ADRE)
|
Four-for-one |
| The BLDRS Europe 100 ADR Index FundSM (NASDAQ:ADRU)
|
Three-for-one |
“These stock splits will effectively extend the BLDRS products to a broader
retail investment audience,” said John Jacobs, executive vice president of
NASDAQ and CEO of NASDAQ Global Funds. “Reducing the share price of these
products will enable more individual investors to seek investment opportunities
in developed and emerging markets, and in Asia and Europe. Because of the
strong price performance of the BLDRS products, it was necessary to take this
action for the benefit of retail investors.”
The BLDRS Asia 50 ADR Index Fund, a unit investment trust, seeks investment
results that generally correspond to the price and yield performance, before
fees and expenses, of The Bank of New York Asia 50 ADR Index, a
capitalization-weighted index designed to track the performance of a basket of
Asian market-based Depositary Receipts.
The BLDRS Developed Markets 100 ADR Index Fund, a unit investment trust, seeks
investment results that generally correspond to the price and yield
performance, before fees and expenses, of The Bank of New York Developed
Markets 100 ADR Index, a capitalization-weighted index designed to track the
performance of a basket of developed market-based Depositary Receipts.
The BLDRS Emerging Markets 50 ADR Index Fund, a unit investment trust, seeks
investment results that generally correspond to the price and yield
performance, before fees and expenses, of The Bank of New York Emerging Markets
50 ADR Index, a capitalization-weighted index designed to track the performance
of a basket of emerging market-based Depositary Receipts.
The BLDRS Europe 100 ADR Index Fund, a unit investment trust, seeks investment
results that generally correspond to the price and yield performance, before
fees and expenses, of The Bank of New York Europe 100 ADR Index, a
capitalization-weighted index designed to track the performance of a basket of
European market-based Depositary Receipts.
Sponsored by NGF, a subsidiary of The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. (NASDAQ®
; NASDAQ:NDAQ), the BLDRS Index Funds Trust consists of four separate ETFs that
are designed to correspond with the price and yield performance of four Bank of
New York American Depositary Receipt Indices.
NGF is behind one of the largest ETF fund families – both in the U.S. and
globally. Ranking third in the U.S., in terms of assets under management, NGF
sponsors 5 ETFs: the NASDAQ-100 Index Tracking Stock® (NASDAQ:
QQQQ) and the 4 BLDRS ETFs. In addition, NGF’s European subsidiary manages the
NASDAQ-100 Index European TrackerSM
(available only to investors in certain European countries).
NASDAQ is the largest U.S. electronic stock market. With approximately 3,200
companies, it lists more companies and, on average, trades more shares per day
than any other U.S. market. It is home to companies that are leaders across all
areas of business including technology, retail, communications, financial
services, transportation, media and biotechnology. NASDAQ is the primary market
for trading NASDAQ-listed stocks. For more information about NASDAQ, visit the
NASDAQ Web site at http://www.nasdaq.com or
the NASDAQ Newsroom at http://www.nasdaq.com/newsroom/
.
An investor should consider investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses
carefully before investing. To obtain a prospectus, which contains this and
other information about BLDRS, unit investment trusts, please call
888.627.3837. Read the prospectus carefully before investing. ETFs are subject
to investment risk including possible loss of principal.
ALPS Distributors, Inc., a registered broker-dealer, is distributor for BLDRS.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements The matters
described herein contain forward-looking statements that are made under the
Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the proposed
stock splits, the timing of those splits, and the benefit to investors. We
caution that these statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual
results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve a number of
risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond NASDAQ's control. These factors
include, but are not limited to factors detailed in NASDAQ's annual report on
Form 10-K, and periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission. We undertake no obligation to release any revisions to any
forward-looking statements.
# # #
Media Contact:
Wayne Lee, NASDAQ
301.978.4875
