US 20070255633Al (19) United States (12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. N0.: US 2007/0255633 A1 Kridel (43) Pub. Date: NOV. 1, 2007 (54) SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INVESTING (52) US. Cl. ....................................................... .. 705/35 (76) Inventor: FIVJigiam J. Kridel, New York, NY (57) ABSTRACT The present invention discloses systems and methods for Correspondence Address? creating and managing ?nancial instruments and indexes PAUL’ HASTINGS’ JANOFSKY & WALKER comprised of securities for companies in subsectors of the LLP economy. These ?nancial instruments alloW investment in R0' BOX 919092 subsectors of the economy Will still being able to minimize SAN DIEGO CA 92191-9092 ’ risk by diversi?cation. The indexes serve as benchmarks for (21) App1_ NO; 11/465,768 companies in the subsectors of the economy. A procedure may be used to identify the securities to include in the (22) Filed: Allg- 18, 2006 ?nancial instruments. This procedure may include (a) iden _ _ tifying securities for companies in a sector of the economy; Related U's‘ Apphcatlon Data (b) limiting the identi?ed securities to those for companies (60) Provisional application No. 60/778,492, ?led on Mar. in a SubSeCIOr Of the SBCIOI‘ Of the economy; (0) applying 1, 2006. focus rules to further limit the identi?ed securities to those _ _ _ _ for companies Who are focused in the subsector of the Pubhcatlon Classl?catlon economy; and (d) limiting the securities included in the (51) Int, Cl, ?nancial instrument or index to those that satisfy other G06Q 40/00 (2006.01) objective criteria. ETF RULE. SET->| APPLICATION’ ' "1 _. ' All Public Equities in North Amerlca and Europe ( Public-. s Equmesi_ . 1111'- the' Health:‘ are Benton1 I 1I [ All Equities Witliiu‘theDisease Categmy' I ( Equities Between 1m} mil m1- ls‘bn Market Cap [ Emc-lusinnufll'lergcrTa'rgets Index Patent Application Publication Nov. 1, 2007 Sheet 1 0f 2 US 2007/0255633 A1 ETF RULE SET APPLICATION { Public Equi?es in Nnrth America and Europe ] [ Pl'lllliii' Equities in tlie Heal‘thcalfe Sector J 4 [ Ali Equities Vv’ifhinihe ‘Dise axle Categm? l [ Equities Between lUII-niilanpi- l‘5bil MarkefCap ] L Equi?es-miquzulybaégdmm4 Focus'rl?cs J [ Emlusinn nrfl'i'lergcr Tzirge'ts 1 FIGURE 1 Patent Application Publication Nov. 1, 2007 Sheet 2 0f 2 US 2007/0255633 A1 ETF INDEX Exclusion of Merger Targets Equities which qualify based on (he focus rules Equities between $E00 mil and $15 bln market cap All equities in the Disease Category All public equities within the lieal?icare sector All public equities with in North America and Europe FIGURE 2 US 2007/0255633 A1 Nov. 1, 2007 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INVESTING securities of companies that are included in a selected market index. For example, one type of ETF, knoWn as CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED Spiders or SPDRs, invest in all (or most) of the stocks APPLICATIONS contained in the S&P 500 Composite Stock Price Index. Although ETFs are legally classi?ed as open-end companies [0001] This application claims the bene?t of US. Provi or UITs, they differ from traditional open-end companies sional Application No. 60/778,492, Which Was ?led Mar. 1, 2006 and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. and UITs in several respects. First, ETFs do not sell indi vidual shares directly to investors and only issue their shares FIELD OF THE INVENTION in large blocks (e.g., 50,000 shares) called “creation units.” The creation units are purchased at NAV. Second, after [0002] The present invention relates generally to ?nancial purchasing a creation unit, an investor often splits it up and investments, and more particularly to ?nancial investments sells the individual shares on a secondary market. This and related indices and systems for structuring investments permits other investors to purchase individual shares (in in equities for a de?ned subsector of the economy. stead of creation units) at market rates (as opposed to NAV) during regular trading hours. Creation units are not pur BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION chased With cash, but instead the buyer must make an in-kind contribution of securities that match the index com [0003] Portfolio investing is a common Way to mitigate position underlying the ETF. Alternatively, investors can sell the risk often associated With investing in stocks, bonds and other types of investments. One type of portfolio investing the creation units back to the ETF at or around NAV or sell smaller denominations on the secondary market at market involves investment in index funds, Whose investment prices. In addition, ETFs generally redeem creation units by objective typically is to achieve the same return as a par giving investors the securities that comprise the portfolio ticular market index. instead of cash. [0004] A market index generally tracks the performance of a speci?c “basket” of stocks considered to represent a [0008] Because the investment objectives, policies and particular market of the stock market or economy. For strategies of an index fund require it to purchase primarily example, the DoW Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is an the securities contained in an index, the fund Will be subject index of 30 “blue chip” US. stocks of industrial companies to the same general risks as the securities that are contained (excluding transportation and utility companies). Similarly, in the index. Further, the management of index funds is more the S&P 500 Composite Stock Price Index is an index of 500 “passive” than the management of non-index funds, because stocks from major industries of the US. economy. an index fund manager only needs to track a relatively ?xed [0005] Index funds include mutual funds, unit investment index of securities. This usually translates into loWer fees trusts (UITs), exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other types and expenses than more actively managed funds. of investments Whose objective is to achieve the same return [0009] Despite these knoWn methods for selecting and as a particular market index. An index fund Will attempt to managing portfolio investments, there is still a need for achieve its investment objective primarily by investing in innovative systems and methods for establishing and man the securities (stocks or bonds) of companies that are aging investments that alloW investors opportunities for included in a selected index. Some index funds may also use investment in signi?cant subsectors of various economies derivatives (such as options or futures) to help achieve their and securities markets (particularly those subsectors exhib investment objective. Some index funds invest in all of the iting technological change) While still mitigating the risk companies included in an index; other index funds invest in associated With investing. For example, during the 1990s, a representative sample of the companies included in an numerous intemet companies Were formed. Over time, some index. Some of similarities and differences among the afore of those companies ?oundered, While others Were tremen mentioned types of index funds are described beloW. dous successes. Thus, a ?nancial instrument for a subcat [0006] Amutual fund is a company that pools money from egory of intemet companies could have been established many investors and invests the money in stocks, bonds, focusing on, for example, the on-line book retailer subsector. short-term money-market instruments, or other securities. Such an instrument could have produced signi?cant Legally knoWn as an “open-end company,” a mutual fund is returns4despite the companies that failedibecause of the one of the three basic types of investment companies (the overWhelming success of other companies in that sub-sector. tWo other basic types are closed-end funds, including UITs, [0010] This type of a ?nancial instrument Would alloW and face-amount certi?cate companies). Traditionally, participants to reap the bene?ts of portfolio investing, While investors purchase mutual fund shares from the fund itself still being able to both respond to speci?c neW developments (or through a broker for the fund). The shares are not listed and encourage the development of neW products by invest on any exchange and there is no organiZed secondary ing in subsectors of the economy. market, such as the NeW York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq Stock Market, to enable investors to buy and sell shares. The SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION price investors pay for mutual fund shares is the fund’s per share net asset value (NAV) plus any shareholder fees that [0011] The present invention discloses systems and meth the fund imposes at purchase (such as sales loads). Mutual ods for creating a ?nancial instrument for investing in funds are redeemable (they can be sold back to the fund) at securities of companies in a subsector of the economy, their approximate NAV, minus any fees the fund imposes at systems and methods for creating a ?nancial index com that time. prised of securities of companies in a subsector of the [0007] An ETF is a type of investment company Whose economy, as Well as systems and methods for managing investment objective is to achieve the same return as a ?nancial instruments and indexes of securities for compa particular market index. An ETF Will primarily invest in the nies in a subsector of the economy. US 2007/0255633 A1 Nov. 1, 2007 [0012] In one embodiment, the systems and methods of securities for inclusion in the ?nancial instrument or index. the present invention comprise: (a) identifying securities for For example, the security’s issuer may be required to have companies in a sector of the economy; (b) limiting the a market capitaliZation With a de?ned range over a period of identi?ed securities to those for companies in a subsector of time. Preferably, the range is greater than about $100 mil the sector of the economy; (c) applying focus rules to further lion, but less than about $15 billion during at least tWo of the limit the identi?ed securities to those for companies Who are preceding three quarters.