Mortgage ETF Created

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and State Street Global Advisors have launched what they said is the first exchange traded fund to offer 100% exposure to the U.S. mortgage finance industry.

The two companies said the new ETF allows investors to gain exposure or hedge positions related to interest rates, housing inventory and pricing cycles through a group of 24 mortgage finance-related stocks.

Companies represented by the stocks through KBW's Mortgage Finance Index include pure mortgage players, mortgage processors, title insurers, homebuilders, and banks and thrifts with loan books dominated by mortgages. The fund is called SPDR KBW Mortgage Finance ETF and it began trading April 30 on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol KME.