First Trust launches actively managed senior loan ETF

FT Portfolios Canada Co. has launched the First Trust Senior Loan ETF, the first of its kind in Canada.

The ETF, which trades as FSL and FSL.A on the TSX, is Canadian-dollar hedged. It seeks to provide unitholders with a high level of current income by investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of senior floating-rate loans and debt securities, with capital appreciation as a secondary objective.

The loans are generally rated at or below BB+ by Standard & Poors, or Ba1 or less by Moody’s Investor Services, Inc., or a similar rating by an approved credit rating organization.

The fund attempts to outperform the S&P/LSTA U.S. Leveraged Loan 100 Index.

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“We believe an allocation to senior loans may address two issues critical to investors in today’s low interest rate environment: the search for yield and the desire for protection against rising interest rates,” says Fraser Howell, President & CFO at FT Portfolios Canada Co.

U.S.-based First Trust Advisors L.P. will manage the fund.

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