American Stock Exchange Launches Three New Exchange-Traded Funds From PowerShares

New ETFs will track the performance of Mergent's Dividend Achievers Indexes, and brings total number of PowerShares to 23 


NEW YORK, Sept. 15  /PRNewswire/ -- The American Stock Exchange(R) (Amex(R)) announced today the launch of three new exchange-traded funds from PowerShares Capital Management LLC. The new funds will track the performance of Mergent's widely watched family of Dividend Achievers Indexes.

The new PowerShares ETFs are: the Dividend Achiever Portfolio (PFM); the High Growth Dividend Achiever Portfolio (PHJ); and the International Dividend Achiever Portfolio (PID).  The introduction of these products, which will be the fourth ETF from PowerShares based on a Mergent Index, follows the successful launch of the High Yield Equity Dividend Achievers ETF (PEY) in December 2004.

"These new ETFs come at a time of strong interest in dividends as a component of overall returns," said Cliff Weber, senior vice president of the Amex's ETF Marketplace. "They give investors an opportunity to participate in an area of tremendous growth, and unite two innovative market participants with strong ties to the Amex."

Bruce Bond, President of PowerShares Capital Management, said "We are pleased to be working again with Mergent expanding our dividend portfolios for investors. Included in today's offerings is the first international dividend ETF listed in the U.S. We now have four distinct dividend portfolios establishing PowerShares as a leader in dividend-based ETFs."

Mergent, which owns and maintains the indexes underlying the three new ETFs, developed the proprietary methodology by which it identifies Dividend Achievers(TM) as companies that have consistently increased their regular annual dividends to shareholders for many consecutive years (10 years or longer for U.S. companies, five years or longer for foreign companies). Indexes composed of these companies tend to outperform the overall market over the long term, and with lower volatility.

The Mergent Dividend Achievers(TM) Index (which includes all U.S. Dividend Achievers), is weighted according to market capitalization, and for 2005 is composed of 314 U.S.-listed stocks (listed on the American Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange or quoted on the Nasdaq National Market).

The indexes underlying the three new ETFs launched today are the Mergent Dividend Achievers Index (ticker "DAA"); the High Growth Rate Dividend Achievers(TM) Index ("DAH"), a subindex of DAA; and the International Dividend Achievers(TM) Index ("DAT"), which includes Dividend Achievers(TM) companies in Europe, Asia and Canada.

"We have experienced ever-increasing demands for investment products related to our Dividend Achievers Indexes, and are very pleased to continue our relationship with the Amex and with PowerShares in helping to create investment products that meet the needs and demands of the market, both institutional and individual," said Mergent CEO Jonathan Worrall. "This is truly a time when the benefits of dividend-focused investing are being recognized once again as an excellent long-term investment opportunity."

About the American Stock Exchange

The American Stock Exchange(R) (Amex(R)) is the only primary exchange that offers trading across a full range of equities, options and exchange traded funds (ETFs), including structured products and HOLDRS(SM). In addition to its role as a national equities market, the Amex is the pioneer of the ETF, responsible for bringing the first domestic product to market in 1993. Leading the industry in ETF listings, the Amex lists 168 ETFs. The Amex is also one of the largest options exchanges in the U.S., trading options on broad-based and sector indexes as well as domestic and foreign stocks. For more information, please visit http://www.amex.com/.

About Mergent

Mergent, Inc., a Xinhua Finance company (TSE Mothers: 9399), is the preferred leading provider of critical business and financial data on global publicly listed companies, indices and exchanges.  The company is headquartered in New York, NY, and Charlotte, NC, with sales offices in key North American cities as well as London, Tokyo, Toronto, Sydney and Hong Kong. Mergent's databases include information on more than 35,000 global listed companies in more than 100 countries. More information about Mergent, Inc. can be found at http://www.mergent.com/.

About PowerShares

PowerShares Capital Management LLC is an asset management company committed to theoretically sound portfolio construction and empirically verifiable investment management approaches. PowerShares' asset management philosophy and investment discipline are deeply rooted in the application of intuitive factor analysis and model implementation to enhance investment decisions. 

DATASOURCE: American Stock Exchange



CONTACT:  Javier E. David, American Stock Exchange, [phone],





Web site:  http://www.amex.com/

http://www.mergent.com/ 

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