A Gold-Hedged S&P ETN?
By Cinthia Murphy | January 28, 2010 1:40 pm

UBS Investment Bank launched today a new ETN linked to the S&P 500 Gold Hedged Index.

The UBS E-TRACS S&P 500 Gold Hedged ETN (NYSEArca: SPGH) offers exposure to the S&P 500 while hedging that portfolio against the price of gold. The note is designed for investors worried about inflation and the prospects for a falling dollar. It is the first exchange-traded product offering gold-hedged exposure.

UBS has 11 other E-TRACS ETNs covering most commodities out there tracking various UBS Bloomberg CMCI indexes—with the exception of one that tracks the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index.

ETNs are senior unsecured notes, meaning investments in them are exposed to the credit risk of underwriting bank—in this case, UBS.