WisdomTree has filed with the SEC to create two new funds that track the change of the American dollar against a basket of world currencies. The new funds will compete with PowerShares US DB Dollar ETF (UUP: Quote, Profile, Advanced Chart, News), which has attracted more than $3 billion from investors.

The WisdomTree Rising Dollar Fund, one of the new funds, will seek to provide performance equivalent to the change in the value of the US dollar against 15 other world currencies. The fund will invest in Treasury bonds, as well as money markets and currency contracts, to derive returns for its investors.

WisdomTree Commodity Currency Fund will seek out currency investments in countries with strong commodity producing industries. The fund is centered on the relative value of the currencies represented by the following countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Indonesia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Russia and South Africa, according to the SEC filing.

A Canadian firm is trying its luck with a gold ETF, hoping its niche will shine through the established competition. Sprott Asset Management has filed with the SEC for a $575 million gold trust IPO.

The Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHYS) will be dual listed on the NYSE and Toronto Stock Exchange, and the ETF will provide investors with exposure to 100% physical metals. The fund seeks to give investors a safe haven investment that is backed entirely by physical metals with no counter-party risks or futures exposure. The fund has an expense ratio capped at .65%, according to the SEC filing.

Sprott Asset Management is no newcomer to gold. The company oversees $4.2 billion in investor assets, with nearly one-sixth of all assets invested in physical metals.

The vitality of currency ETFs was long questioned, as only a few were operating with enough assets to cover expenses. However, investors recently have picked up the pace, investing nearly as much in October as the first nine months of 2009 combined.

$548 million was added to currency ETFs in October, pushing the year to date total to $1.2 billion, according to The Street. The incredible gain in invested assets suggests that currencies may soon be a mainstay in the average portfolio, helping to erase currency fluctuations that threaten portfolios that are limited in their geographic diversification.

A shift in investor sentiment towards cash as an asset class, rather than a basic unit, has led investors to seek out foreign diversification against currency risk. Rydex CurrencyShares Australian Dollar Trust (FXA: Quote, Profile, Advanced Chart, News), Rydex CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust (FXY: Quote, Profile, Advanced Chart, News), Rydex CurrencyShares Euro Trust (FXE: Quote, Profile, Advanced Chart, News), and Rydex CurrencyShares Canadian Dollar Trust (FXC: Quote, Profile, Advanced Chart, News) provide investors a liquid hedge against foreign currency fluctuations, while the PowerShares US Dollar Index Bearish Fund (UDN: Quote, Profile, Advanced Chart, News) and PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund (UUP: Quote, Profile, Advanced Chart, News) allow opportunities to buy and sell the dollar.

Glencore International AG and Credit Suisse Group are in discussions to create the first physically-backed aluminum exchange-traded fund. The ETF, which could draw attraction from commodities futures traders, will follow a popular trend among foreign exchange-traded funds.

While storing the precious metals of physically-backed exchange-traded funds is expensive, a new breed of traders, specifically those that want ownership of physical metals, continues to drive demand for this type of ETF. Just recently, the first physical copper ETF launched in Canada, and many more are planned all around the world, as Globe and Mail reports.

The new aluminum ETF is widely expected to appear on a multitude of exchanges in the US and abroad. Issuance of physical metal ETFs are growing in the United States, especially as the CTFC cracks down on funds that do not store materials, but rather buy futures on world exchanges.

Manulife Financial Corp., a mutual fund provider and insurance company based out of Canada, has filed with the SEC to create three American ETFs. The company will utilize its three existing U.S. arms, John Hancock Advisers LLC, John Hancock Investment Management Services, and MFC Global Investment Management, as managers for the newly created funds.

Following in line with its mutual fund offerings, the new ETFs will be indexing funds related to U.S. stock exchanges and international markets, according to a SEC filing. Manulife is more commonly known in the United States as the mutual fund issuer John Hancock, which in 2008 managed more than $185 billion in mutual fund assets.

Manulife is following in the footsteps of PIMCO and Charles Schwab, who are crossing over from their mutual fund series into exchange-traded funds.