Pacer ETFs, an issuer of strategy-driven exchange-traded funds, has announced the launch of its first two ETFs to offer exposure to equities outside the US. The funds use systematic trend following strategies to manage equity and currency market exposure respectively.

The two Pacer ETFs follow systematic strategies designed to hedge against downside risk.

The Pacer Trendpilot European Index ETF is the newest addition to the Trendpilot lineup and offers exposure to the FTSE Eurobloc Index. The strategy is designed to participate in the market when it is trending up, maintain some exposure during short-term market declines and move to 3-month US T-Bills when it is trending down. This is achieved by using indicators based on the 200-day moving averages of both the FTSE Eurobloc Index and the 3-Month US T-Bills.

“After the great initial success of our three US Trendpilot ETFs, we decided to apply the strategy internationally. I think it is something that investors should use across their investments to avoid major downtrends,” said Joe Thomson, Chairman and President of Pacer ETFs.

The Pacer Autopilot Hedged European Index ETF is the first ETF of the Autopilot series for Pacer. The strategy determines the trend of the exchange rate through an analysis of the 20-day and 130-day moving average of the EUR/USD exchange rate and alternates between a hedged and unhedged position. Evaluating monthly, the strategy will apply the hedge if the dollar is strong and remove it if the dollar is weak.

“Our two position hedging strategy is unique in that it allows us to take advantage of the exchange rate, regardless of the strength of the dollar,” explained Sean O’Hara, Director of Pacer ETFs.

The new Pacer ETFs follow indices calculated by FTSE Russell and join the existing Pacer ETFs which have been listed on the BATS ETF Marketplace. “We welcomed Pacer as a new issuer to our market earlier this year and we are excited to expand our partnership with the listing of these two new ETFs,” said Laura Morrison, Senior Vice President, Global Head of Exchange-Traded Products at BATS. “We continue to remain focused on creating a marketplace that is targeted to the needs of today’s issuers and investors.”