In the fast-growing ETF world, you'll find a lot of new offerings that are just plain boring. But even as many competitors introduce products that look virtually identical to already-trading ETFs with substantial popularity, a few innovative ETF shops are at least taking a crack at giving investors something new.

One such ETF company is Global X, which launched a new fund yesterday. Although the niche ETFs may not be useful for the majority of investors, the ideas behind them show a true desire to advance the ball and make ETFs something more than just run-of-the-mill index tracking investments.

Fighting to feed the world
The new ETF from Global X focuses on fertilizer companies. The Global X Fertilizers/Potash ETF, with the cute ticker symbol SOIL, owns nearly 30 companies directly related to the fertilizer industry.

With food commodity prices having been at high levels for quite a while, fertilizer giants PotashCorp (NYSE: POT), Mosaic (NYSE: MOS), and Agrium (NYSE: AGU) have enjoyed strong stock gains over the years. Yet while other ETFs allow investors to get exposure to these stocks, they also typically include other agricultural stocks that aren't fertilizer-specific. At the same time, the Global X ETF gives wider range of fertilizer stocks, including Australia's Incitec Pivot and Norway's Yara International.

Getting exactly what you want
The new fertilizer ETF isn't the only example of a Global X fund that aims to cut out extraneous stocks from industries. The company's Global X Pure Gold Miners ETF targets mining stocks that get the vast majority of their sales from producing gold rather than other metals. For investors who are truly seeking to pin down a particular investing strategy, that can be a crucial advantage.

The idea that gold stocks would produce gold may seem like a no-brainer, but some things that seem obvious turn out not to be true. When you look at the New York Stock Exchange's index of gold miners, you'll quickly realize that many stocks have almost no gold production at all. For Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW) and Pan American Silver (Nasdaq: PAAS), gold represents less than 5% of their revenue, but they're on the list. Even mining giant Goldcorp (NYSE: GG) gets only half its revenue from gold.

Motoring ahead
Yet at the same time that Global X's ETFs clear out investments you don't really want, they also make room for more of what you do want. For instance, looking at the company's Global X Auto ETF, you'll find the obvious choices like Ford well represented near the top of the holdings list.

But you'll also find car companies like Peugeot, Isuzu, and Mazda -- companies with well-known brands but which have been almost forgotten by the capital markets. In addition, you'll get shares of Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM), which has already captured a huge market and has global ambitions. By including such a wide swath of the industry, Global X helps craft the closest thing to a pure play on the sectors you want.

Too targeted?
Critics of the Global X approach have reasonable points. Making such targeted investments carries the risk of inexperienced investors ending up with undiversified portfolios. Only using Global X ETFs for your entire portfolio would be a much riskier approach than owning some broad-market funds.

In addition, Global X ETF expenses are on the high side. While ETFs covering the entire stock market carry expenses of 0.1% or less, the three Global X funds discussed above carry expenses in the 0.6% to 0.7% range.

Finally, these funds will need to grow in order to survive. None of them is more than a few months old, but with assets below $3 million each, an asset base generating around $20,000 in annual revenue for Global X isn't going to keep the doors open.

A for effort
Despite those concerns, it's good to see an ETF company going beyond the simplistic approach that many ETF providers seem to have. That's no guarantee that Global X's funds will succeed, and they may not be appropriate for your investing strategy. But if you're looking to make a concentrated bet on a particularly narrow area, take a look at the company's ETFs and see if they have one to fit your needs.

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