A new type of ETF is becoming popular, offering alternatives to traditional sector funds in targeting different types of companies.

(Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from an article in the Exchange-Traded Funds Report in July. Subscribers to ETFR can read the complete piece here.)

Specialty-sector ETFs—also called “thematic” ETFs—have emerged as a major force in the ETF industry.

These ETFs run the gamut of investment possibilities, but have one thing in common: They look past traditional size and sector designations to carve out new investment areas, often driven by a single investment thesis.

Clean energy, infrastructure, nuclear power—by our count, there are now more than 40 of these unique ETFs on the market, with more than $10 billion in assets under management.

Investment manager Van Eck Global has been one of the most successful companies in carving out a foothold among specialty ETFs. Its Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE Arca:

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The Lehman index group is now part of Barclays Capital as a result of the British bank's purchase of bankrupt Lehman.

 

Van Eck Global's Market Vectors family of exchange-traded funds has erased the Lehman name from its municipal bond portfolios.

The shortened names for the muni bond ETFs coincide with a stock split already completed on the funds. The company hopes the moves will simplify marketing and increase the attractiveness of the funds.

The underlying Lehman indexes will continue to be used, and there will be no change to the ETFs' investment objectives, but the once-veritable bond-based brand of the now-extinct bank has disappeared from the marketed names of the ETFs.

The Lehman index group is now part of Barclays Capital as a result of the British bank's purchase of bankrupt Lehman.

Adam Phillips, managing director of Market Vectors, said in an interview with

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