Reality Shares Adds 3 ETFs To E*TRADE Commission-Free Platform

E*TRADE Financial Corp.'s ETFC platform of exchange-traded funds offered on a commission-free basis just got a little bigger thanks to the addition of three funds from Reality Shares.

San Diego-based Reality Shares offers a unique lineup of income-oriented ETFs as well as one of the industry's first ETFs dedicated to companies involved with blockchain technologies.

What Happened

The Reality Shares added to the E*TRADE commission-free platform are the Reality Shares DIVS ETF DIVY, Reality Shares DIVCON Leaders Dividend ETF LEAD and the Reality Shares Nasdaq NexGen Economy ETF BCLN. DIVY is an actively managed fund.

“Reality Shares launched DIVY, its inaugural ETF, in December 2014. It is one of the first ETFs that seeks to deliver long-term capital appreciation based on the growth of dividends, not stock price, of large-cap companies,” according to a statement.

Why It's Important

Brokerage firms have been looking for ways to tap into the exponential growth of ETFs, with many opting to offer ETFs on a commission-free basis. For its part, E*TRADE has steadily increased the number of ETFs it offers to clients without commissions.

“To discourage short-term trading, E*TRADE Securities may charge a short-term trading fee on sales of participating ETFs held for less than 30 days,” according to the statement.

Such charges are common among brokers offering commission-free ETF platforms.

What's Next

Commission-free platform have the potential to drive more assets to the ETFs offered there, particularly at a time when investors are increasingly cost-conscious.

BLCN, the Reality Shares blockchain ETF, debuted on Jan. 17 and has more than $126 million in assets, marking a solid start for that new ETF. That ETF, which holds 65 stocks, tracks the Reality Shares Nasdaq Blockchain Economy Index.

BCLN's underlying index “is designed to measure the returns of companies that are committing material resources to developing, researching, supporting, innovating or utilizing blockchain technology for their use or for use by others,” according to Reality Shares.

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