BetaPro Management Inc. has launched what it says is North America’s first non-leveraged exchange traded fund that offers exposure to the daily price performance of copper futures contracts.

Horizons BetaPro COMEX Copper ETF began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange Wednesday under the ticker symbol HUK.

HUK is BetaPro’s third offering that offers investors the opportunity to gain exposure to market changes in copper futures contracts.

“Back in June of 2010, we launched the first leveraged copper futures ETFs in North America, listed on the TSX as HKU and HKD. Since then, copper prices have reached record highs and global interest in this important metal has increased. With HUK we are expanding our ETF line up to give investors more choice to gain exposure to copper prices,” says Howard Atkinson, president of BetaPro.

HUK seeks investment results, before fees, expenses, distributions, brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, that endeavour to correspond to the performance of the COMEX copper futures contract for a subsequent delivery month. The ETF is denominated in Canadian dollars.

Any U.S. dollar gains or losses as a result of the Copper ETF’s investment will be hedged back to the Canadian dollar to the best of its ability.

Atkinson points out that, outside of going directly to the futures markets, the only way investors can get access to copper through an ETF structure is indirectly through ETFs that track base metal equities.

“In our view, using an ETF linked to the return of copper futures is the most direct and efficient way to invest in copper,” Atkinson says.

“While past performance is not indicative of future performance, investors who have bought copper over the last six months have been well-rewarded, as it is generally viewed that the economic recovery in the emerging markets such as China has led to increases in demand for this metal, which is an essential commodity for industrialization and electronics manufacturing,” he explains.

IE