Aired 01/31/09 According to reports, the Securities and Exchange Commission has given permission to Wheaton, IL-based PowerShares Capital Management to offer active ETFs. Up until now, all ETFs have been tied to a specific stock, bond, or commodity index. The four new PowerShares funds slated for launch are: * Active AlphaQ, benchmarked against the Nasdaq-100 index * Active Alpha Multi-Cap, benchmarked against the S&P 500 index * Active Mega-Cap, benchmarked against the Russell Top 200 index * Active Low-Duration, benchmarked against the Lehman Brothers 1-3 year U.S. Treasury index. “It’s important to realize that these products do not have an existing track record so it will be interesting to see the extent of alpha they are able to achieve given the disclosure of the creation/redemption basket.” - Rick Genoni, Head of ETF Product Development at the Vanguard Group