All new product introductions receive a six-month grace period from ETF Deathwatch.  Nine products debuted in November 2012, making this the first month they are eligible.  Seven of these nine are joining the list, a grim reminder of the difficulty new launches face in this environment. 

Four of the ETFs moving directly out of the grace period and on to the Deathwatch list are ETNs bearing the RBS Rogers Enhanced Commodity name.  The other three are ETFs with the new PureFunds brand from FactorShares.  Five previously existing FactorShares ETFs are long-time members of ETF Deathwatch, meaning that 100% of their product lineup is now part of the membership list. 

FactorShares underwent a transformation about a year ago when Gencap Ventures acquired it, with the intent of becoming a turnkey ETF launch platform.  However, its existing lineup is in jeopardy and attracting new assets will be a difficult task.  This is because ETFs carrying the FactorShares name have ridiculously high total expense ratios, ranging from a low of 9.68% for FactorShares 2X: Gold Bull/S&P500 Bear (FSG) to a high of 33.70% for FactorShares 2X: S&P500 Bull/TBond Bear (FSE).  It continues to amaze me that regulators allow such products to exist, but I guess as long as this travesty is disclosed deep on page 25 of the prospectus (page 35 of the pdf), then it is okay.

Seven products went the entire month of May without any trades.  Both iPath Short Enhanced MSCI EAFE ETN (MFSA) and iPath Short Enhanced MSCI Emerging Markets (EMSA) have yet to post their first trade of 2013  A total of 145 ETPs had zero volume on the last day of the month.  In other words, on any given day nearly 10% of the listed ETPs do not trade.  This is not “low” liquidity, this is “no” liquidity.

Complete List of 342 Products on ETF Deathwatch for June 2013 

The 14 ETPs added to ETF Deathwatch for June:

1. Barclays ETN+ S&P 500 2x Long C ETN (BXUC)
2. ETRACS 1x Monthly Short Alerian MLP ETN (MLPS)
3. Guggenheim Enhanced Core Bond (GIY)
4. iPath US Treasury Flattener ETN (FLAT)
5. PowerShares DB Commodity Double Long ETN (DYY)
6. PureFunds ISE Diamonds/Gemstone (GEMS)
7. PureFunds ISE Junior Silver (SILJ)
8. PureFunds ISE Mining Service (MSXX)
9. QuantSharesU.S.Market Neutral Anti-Beta (BTAL)
10. RBSRogersEnhanced Agriculture ETN (RGRA)
11. RBSRogersEnhanced Energy ETN (RGRE)
12. RBSRogersEnhanced Industrial Metals ETN (RGRI)
13. RBSRogersEnhanced Precious Metals ETN (RGRP)
14. SPDR S&P Software & Services (XSW)

The 6 ETPs removed from ETF Deathwatch due to improved health:

1. Direxion All Cap Insider Sentiment (KNOW)
2. iShares MSCI Far East Financials Sector (FEFN)
3. iShares MSCI World (URTH)
4. Market VectorsIndonesiaSmall-Cap (IDXJ)
5. SPDR S&P International Technology (IPK)
6. WisdomTree Large Cap Value (EZY)

Additional Data/Resources:

• Five Steps to Avoid Disaster When Your ETF Closes 
• ETF Deathwatch Criteria (objective criteria used to generate list)
• ETF Deathwatch Archives (past monthly issues)

Disclosure covering writer, editor, and publisher:  No positions in any of the securities mentioned.  No positions in any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.  No income, revenue, or other compensation (either directly or indirectly) received from, or on behalf of, any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.

AdvisorShares Rockledge SectorSAM ETF (SSAM) began trading January 12, 2012 as an actively managed fund-of-funds ETF hoping to “generate stable and consistent annual returns under all market conditions” using a market neutral approach.  The portfolio manager, Rockledge Advisors, pursued its Sector Scoring and Allocation Methodology (“SectorSAM”) of buying sector ETFs it forecasted to outperform the S&P 500 while selling short an equal dollar amount of sector ETFs it believed would underperform.  The fund used the nine Sector SPDR ETFs from State Street.

Since inception, the SSAM ETF produced an annualized return of -4.2% versus +16.2% for the S&P 500.  As of June 9, its web page showed a gross expense ratio of 11.04%.  However, the Advisor had agreed to cap expenses at 1.50% excluding short selling expenses and acquired fund fees.  Therefore, the resulting net expense ratio of 3.11% required the Advisor to waive or reimburse 7.93% of expenses.

A 7.93% expense reimbursement equates to $93,974 per year on assets of $1,185,049.  AdvisorShares was very forthcoming when it said that one of the reasons for closing SSAM was the “associated costs.”  The simple fact is ETFs need assets to be profitable.  In the case of SSAM, even an extremely high net expense ratio of 3.11% resulted in the Advisor having to pay about $7,800 a month to keep it open. 

ETFs with more typical expense ratios of about 0.50% have an even larger economic hurdle to overcome.  Eventually, the profit drain will force many other products on ETF Deathwatch to close.  I encourage any remaining shareholders in SSAM to sell your shares prior to the delisting using a limit order.

Disclosure covering writer, editor, and publisher:  No positions in any of the securities mentioned.  No positions in any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.  No income, revenue, or other compensation (either directly or indirectly) received from, or on behalf of, any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.

For the past 12 months, the net increase in the quantity of listed products is only four, which equates to an annual growth rate of just 0.3%.  A month ago, the 12-month change was two, and for March, the net increase was just one.  The last time the annual net increase was is the single digits for three months running was in April 2000, more than 13 years ago.  However, the product count went from 30 to 38 in the 12 months ending April 2000, which was a very healthy 26.7% annual growth rate.

Asset growth paints a more positive picture.  Although assets grew by only 0.4% in May to $1.495 trillion, they are up an impressive 31.6% from the $1.136 trillion level of a year ago.  Successful products have been able to generate substantial inflows.  Even with the modest gains of May, the number of funds above the $10 billion threshold climbed from 31 to 34.  These 34 ETFs are just 2.3% of the products available, but they control 53.9% of the assets.

Trading activity declined 3.6% for the month with a total of $1.38 trillion of ETFs and ETNs changing hands.  Only 0.5% of the products averaged more than $1 billion per day in trading, yet these seven ETFs accounted for more than half (53.2%) of all trading activity.  Talk about a lopsided market.  The monthly turnover rate (total dollar volume divided by assets under management) came in at 0.92.

May 2013 Month End	ETFs	ETNs	Total
Currently Listed U.S.	1,259	210	1,469
Listed as of 12/31/2012	1,239	206	1,445
New Introductions for Month	9	2	11
Delistings/Closures for Month	1	0	1
Net Change for Month	+8	+2	+10
New Introductions 6 Months	58	6	64
New Introductions YTD	48	6	54
Delistings/Closures YTD	28	2	30
Net Change YTD	+20	+4	+24
Actively-Managed Listings	62	n/a	62
Assets Under Mgmt ($ billion)	$1,477	$18.3	$1,495
% Change in Assets for Month	+0.4%	+1.3%	+0.4%
Qty AUM > $10 Billion	34	0	34
Qty AUM > $1 Billion	201	3	204
Qty AUM > $100 Million	617	24	641
% with AUM > $100 Million	49.0%	11.4%	43.6%
Monthly $ Volume ($ billion)	$1,349	$29.6	$1,379
% Change in Monthly $ Volume	-2.9%	-27.1%	-3.6%
Avg Daily $ Volume > $1 Billion	7	0	7
Avg Daily $ Volume > $100 Million	64	2	66
Avg Daily $ Volume > $10 Million	256	11	267

Data sources:  Daily prices and volume of individual ETPs from Norgate Premium Data.  Fund counts and all other information compiled by Invest With An Edge.

New products launched in May (sorted by launch date):

1. Direxion Daily Brazil Bear 3x Shares (BRZS) [BRZS overview]
2. Direxion Daily South Korea Bear 3x Shares (KORZ) [KORZ overview]
3. First Trust Senior Loan ETF (FTSL) [FTSL overview]
4. PowerShares Fundamental Emerging Markets Local Debt Portfolio (PFEM) [PFEM overview]
5. Cambria Shareholder Yield ETF (SYLD) [product review: Redefining Yield With Cambria Shareholder Yield ETF]
6. Barclays ETN+ FI Enhanced Global High Yield ETN (FIGY) [FIGY prospectus]
7. WisdomTree U.S. Dividend Growth Fund (DGRW) [DGRW overview]
8. Barclays ETN+ FI Enhanced Europe 50 ETN (FEEU) [FEEU prospectus]
9. ProShares High Yield – Interest Rate Hedged (HYHG) [HYHG overview]
10. SPDR Barclays 1-10 Year TIPS ETF (TIPX) [TIPX overview]
11. SPDR S&P Global Dividend ETF (WDIV) [WDIV overview]

Product closures/delistings in May (sorted by delisting date):

1. iShares Diversified Alternatives Trust (ALT) [iShares Closing Actively Managed Diversified Alternatives ETF]

Product changes in May:

1. SPDR FTSE/Macquarie Infrastructure 100 ETF (GII) became the SPDR S&P Global Infrastructure ETF (GII) effective May 1.
2. Effective May 1, two iShares ETFs dropped “index” from their names, becoming iShares MSCI Frontier 100 Fund (FM) and iShares MSCI Kokusai Fund (TOK).  They will continue to be passively managed index funds.
3. Six ETFs from Global X (GLDX, URA, JUNR, ARGT, CHIM, and GGGG) underwent reverse splits effective May 16.
4. Vanguard MSCI EAFE ETF (VEA) went from a MSCI to FTSE index and changed its name to Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets (VEA) effective May 29.
5. db X-trackers MSCI Canada Hedged Equity Fund (DBCN) underwent an extreme makeover, becoming the db X-trackers MSCI Germany Hedged Equity Fund (DBGR) effective May 31.

Announced Product Changes for Coming Months:

1. First Trust Strategic Value Index Fund (FDV) will undergo an extreme makeover, becoming the First Trust Capital Strength ETF (FTCS) effective June 3.
2. Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) will change its underlying MSCI index to the CRSP US Total Market Index effective June 3.
3. UBS will close seven ETRACS ETNs (BLND, LSKY, PTD, EIPO, EIPL, SSDD, and SSDL) with the last day of trading being June 5.  [UBS Calls 7 ETRACS ETNs For Redemption]
4. Seven ProShares (UGE, UPRO, UMDD, UWC, RXL, UCC, and URTY) will undergo 2-for-1 share splits effective June 10.
5. Eight ProShares (DUG, FINZ, TTT, SJF, EFU, KOLD, VIXY, and UVXY) will undergo reverse splits and receive new CUSIP numbers effective June 10.
6. Four iShares ETFs (IBCD, IBCC, IBCD, and IBCE) will have new CUSIP numbers effective June 10.
7. Guggenheim Yuan Bond ETF (RMB) will close and liquidate.  Its last day of trading will be June 14.  [Guggenheim Yuan Bond ETF (RMB) To Close]
8. Effective June 21, the Sustainable North American Oil Sands ETF (SNDS) will undergo an extreme makeover, becoming the YieldShares High Income ETF (YYY) with a different investment objective.

Previous monthly ETF statistics reports are available here.

Disclosure covering writer, editor, publisher, and affiliates: No positions in any of the securities mentioned.  No positions in any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.  No income, revenue, or other compensation (either directly or indirectly) received from, or on behalf of, any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.

The seven closing ETNs are:

1. ETRACS DJ-UBS Commodity Index 2-4-6 Blended Futures ETN (BLND)
2. ETRACS Monthly 2x Leveraged ISE Cloud Computing Total Return ETN (LSKY)
3. ETRACS Inverse UBS Bloomberg CMCI Platinum Excess Return ETN (PTD)
4. ETRACS Next Generation Internet ETN (EIPO)
5. ETRACS Monthly 2x Leveraged Next Generation Internet ETN (EIPL)
6. ETRACS ISE Solid State Drive Index ETN (SSDD)
7. ETRACS Monthly 2x Leveraged ISE Solid State Drive Index ETN (SSDL)

Assets in the closing products total less than $60 million and range from a low of $3 million for PTD to a high of just over $16 million for LSKY.  All but one of the closing products is less than two years old.  BLND is the youngest, introduced just 13 months ago, while PTD is the oldest and has been around more than five years.  All seven ETNs are on ETF Deathwatch.

The criteria used by UBS in deciding which ETNs to close was not given.  However, some products appeared to be spared for strategic reasons.  For example, three products with less than $5 million each in assets escaped closure at this time, presumably because they are part of a lineup of basic commodity ETNs.  They are ETRACS CMCI Energy TR ETN (UBN), ETRACS CMCI Industrial Metals TR ETN (UBM), and ETRACS CMCI Livestock TR ETN (UBC). 

All previous UBS ETRACS closures were VIX related ETNs.  Additional information about the seven new closures can be found in the UBS press release.

Disclosure covering writer, editor, and publisher:  No positions in any of the securities mentioned.  No positions in any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.  No income, revenue, or other compensation (either directly or indirectly) received from, or on behalf of, any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.

RMB will begin liquidating its holdings on June 17, and its final liquidating NAV will be determined on June 20.  Guggenheim’s press release announcing the closure of RMB (pdf) and its answers to frequently asked questions (pdf) reveal that any shareholders remaining after June 14 will bear the costs of closing the fund. 

Additionally, between June 14 and June 20, “the fund will deviate from its investment objectives and strategies stated in its prospectus.”  RMB is also suspending its June 1 dividend, so there is little reason to stick around any longer (please note that the Guggenheim literature refers to this as the May dividend).

Investors desiring access to Chinese “Dim Sum” bonds can do so via PowerShares Chinese Yuan Dim Sum Bond Portfolio (DSUM).  In my September 2011 analysis, RMB vs DSUM: Comparing the New Dim Sum Bond ETFs, I summarized my findings as follows:

“Investors desiring exposure to the Dim Sum market would appear to be better served by DSUM, the PowerShares offering.  Its total market approach results in a yield more than twice that of RMB, while increasing duration less than one year and doing so for a lower fee.”

RMB joined ETF Deathwatch in April 2012 and had about $5 million in assets at the time.  The fund had only $2.6 million at the end of April 2013.

Disclosure covering writer, editor, and publisher:  No positions in any of the securities mentioned.  No positions in any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.  No income, revenue, or other compensation (either directly or indirectly) received from, or on behalf of, any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.

Specifically, SYLD invests in 100 stocks with market caps greater than $200 million that rank among the highest in (a) paying cash dividends, (b) engaging in net share repurchases, and (c) paying down debt on their balance sheets.  The manager believes that a focus on all three factors – a trio collectively known as shareholder yield – produces a portfolio of companies that offer strong free cash flow characteristics.

The SYLD Investment Case asserts the following:  focusing on dividends alone misses the broader picture, share repurchases have historically outpaced dividends, free cash flow is a classic value investment approach, diversification is ensured through maximum sector percentage caps, SYLD is the first ETF to focus on shareholder yield, and actively managed ETFs have advantages.  Additional background on the investment philosophy is contained the book “Shareholder Yield: A Better Approach to Yield Investing” by Mebane Faber.

SYLD intends to focus on large cap domestic securities while allowing for stocks as small as $200 million in market capitalization and foreign issuers with U.S. listed ADRs to be included.  Current capitalization allocations are 56% large cap, 34% mid cap, and 10% small cap.

Cambria, the fund’s manager, appears to take an equal weight approach when allocating the ETF’s 100 holdings.  The largest positions as a result of recent market action include Boston Scientific (BSX), Usana Health Sciences (USNA), Nu Skin Asia Pacific (NUS), Mastec (MTZ), and Harte-Hanks (HHS).  Sector breakdown currently comes in at Financials 20%, Consumer Discretionary 17%, Technology 15%, Industrials 13%, and Consumer Staples 13%.

The new ETF has an expense ratio of 0.59%, and additional background information is contained in the press release (pdf).  Cambria becomes a new ETF sponsor with the launch of SYLD.  However, the investment firm is not new to the ETF world.  Cambria, and portfolio managers Mebane Faber and Eric Richardson, are the team behind the AdvisorShares Cambria Global Tactical ETF (GTAA) [GTAA: ETF Version Of The Ivy Portfolio].

Analysis/Opinion:  Contrary to what its name might suggest, the Cambria Shareholder Yield ETF is neither a dividend nor an income fund.  According to the SYLD home page, its stated objective is “absolute return” with dividends being paid only once per year.  This unusual twist is confirmed by the fact sheet (pdf).  Presumably, this will force investors to focus on the total return aspect of the fund instead of current dividend yield, which the fund’s advisor believes misses the broader picture.

Additionally, the “absolute return” designation might also fail to meet expectations.  I could not find any description of how the fund’s risk-management techniques and investment approach would fit any common definition of absolute return.  SYLD appears to be a fully invested, long-only, investment methodology.  It is hard to see how it will meet its absolute return objective.  The prospectus (pdf) contains an additional objective though, one that emphasizes income and capital appreciation.

The expense ratio of 0.59% is lower than the average actively managed equity ETF and significantly below the 1.41% of Cambria’s other fund offering, the AdvisorShares Cambria Global Tactical ETF (GTAA).  By going it alone and removing the fund-of-fund expenses associated with GTAA, Cambria is able to cut shareholder expenses by more than half.

The fund literature provides no clues as to what SYLD’s shareholders should expect in the way of dividend yield or total shareholder yield.

Disclosure covering writer, editor, and publisher:  No positions in any of the securities mentioned.  No positions in any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.  No income, revenue, or other compensation (either directly or indirectly) received from, or on behalf of, any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.

STREAM S&P Dynamic Roll Commodities Fund (BNPC) was the single ETF delisted in April.  It provides a real-time example of why investors should sell shares prior to delisting and avoid the liquidation process.  BNP Paribas, the sponsor of the ETF formerly known as BNPC, did not liquidate the portfolio and has not announced any plans to do so.  The BNPC website has been taken down.  Technically, the fund still exists as CUSIP 86324B103.  If you own shares, good luck trying to find a buyer at a fair price.

For our purposes, we count ETPs as being born on the first day their listing becomes active on a U.S. exchange.  Likewise, delisting constitutes death, since the product is no longer easily accessible to retail investors.  BNPC died after the close of trading on April 12.  The future of BNP Paribas as a viable participant in the U.S. ETF market probably died the same day.  This is a competitive market with little tolerance for sponsors that are not shareholder friendly.

Nine products went the entire month of April without any trades.  iPath Short Enhanced MSCI EAFE ETN (MFSA) last traded on October 9, 2012.  Barclay’s long version of that product, iPath Enhanced MSCI EAFE ETN (MFLA) hasn’t traded in about seven weeks and was quoted today with a $72.00/$216.00 Bid/Ask spread.  Helloooo, Barclay’s iPath, is anybody minding the store?  A total of 157 ETPs had zero volume on the last day of the month.

Complete List of 334 Products on ETF Deathwatch for May 2013 

The 18 ETPs added to ETF Deathwatch for May:

1. Barclays ETN+ Shiller CAPE ETN (CAPE)
2. EGShares Emerging Markets Core (EMCR)
3. EGShares GEMS Composite (AGEM)
4. EGShares India Small Cap (SCIN)
5. ELEMENTS MLCX Grains Total Return ETN (GRU)
6. First Trust CBOE S&P 500 VIX Tail Hedge (VIXH)
7. FlexShares Ready Access Variable Income (RAVI)
8. Market Vectors Fallen Angel High Yield Bond (ANGL)
9. PowerShares DB Agriculture Long ETN (AGF)
10. PowerShares DB German Bund Futures ETN (BUNL)
11. ProShares Ultra Investment Grade Corporate (IGU)
12. ProShares Ultra Russell2000 Value (UVT)
13. ProShares USD Covered Bond (COBO)
14. SPDR Nuveen S&P VRDO Municipal Bond (VRD)
15. SPDR S&P 1500 Momentum Tilt (MMTM)
16. SPDR S&P 1500 Value Tilt (VLU)
17. WisdomTree Commodity Country Equity (CCXE)
18. WisdomTree Large Cap Value (EZY)

The 7 ETPs removed from ETF Deathwatch due to improved health:

1. Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bull 3x (TYD)
2. First Trust NASDAQ ABA Community Bank (QABA)
3. Global X Top Guru Holdings Index (GURU)
4. PowerShares KBW Capital Markets (KBWC)
5. PowerShares KBW Property & Casualty Insurance (KBWP)
6. PowerShares MENA Frontier Countries (PMNA)
7. ProShares UltraShort Nasdaq Biotechnology (BIS)

The 1 ETF removed from ETF Deathwatch due to death and delisting:

1. STREAM S&P Dynamic Roll Commodities Fund (BNPC) [BNPC To Delist: No Liquidation Plans Announced]

Additional Data/Resources:

Five Steps to Avoid Disaster When Your ETF Closes 

ETF Deathwatch Criteria (objective criteria used to generate list)

ETF Deathwatch Archives (past monthly issues)

Disclosure covering writer, editor, and publisher:  Long CUSIP 86324B103 to have a front row seat to this train wreck.  No positions in any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.  No income, revenue, or other compensation (either directly or indirectly) received from, or on behalf of, any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.

However, the footnotes explain this is just an “estimate” because any estimate of deferred income tax expense “cannot be reliably predicted”.  Their words, not mine.  They are essentially claiming it is an estimate of something that cannot be estimated. 

The document further contradicts itself by stating, “The Fund’s accrued deferred tax liability, if any, is reflected each day in the Fund’s net asset value per share.”  In other words, it’s not an estimate at all and is known with enough precision to clip the NAV daily and issue an updated intraday NAV every 15 seconds.

Additionally, the 4% estimate has been far too low.  According to AMLP’s performance data page, AMLP has trailed its index by 28.36% since inception through March 31.  This equates to 8.44% per year.  Since AMLP’s stated objective is to track the index less fees and expenses, then fees and expenses must total 8.44% per year.  Therefore, my estimate of the deferred income tax expenses that shareholders have paid since inception is closer to 7.59% per year (8.44% underperformance minus 0.85% management fee).

According to AMLP’s holding data for May 2, 2013, AMLP has now taken $443,228,015.21 from shareholders to pay the fund’s taxes.  This is in addition to the taxes AMLP has already paid.  For most ETPs, investors scrutinize expense ratios closely, questioning every 0.1%.  AMLP shareholders seem to be either oblivious, blinded by the yield, or think 7.59% per year is a fair price to avoid a K-1 statement.

Related articles:

• Beware of MLPs in ETF Wrappers: AMLP 
• ALPS Responds To AMLP Article 
• AMLP’s Dirty Little Secret 
• Alerian MLP ETF Has Higher Expenses Than Hedge Funds 
• AMLP Makes Tax Payment and Raises Expense Ratio 
• AMLP Expense Ratio Surges To 4.86% 
• Open Letter to ETF Regulators 

Disclosure covering writer, editor, and publisher:  Long AMJ.  No positions in any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.  No income, revenue, or other compensation (either directly or indirectly) received from, or on behalf of, any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.

Unlike March, where 100% of new offerings were income oriented, April’s new arrivals had a good mixture of objectives: Two frontier funds, five emerging market ETFs (two with 3x leverage), three international dividend plays, three factor products (plus two actively managed ETFs using those factor tilts), five target maturity bond funds, and a silver covered-call ETN.

April’s sore point was the decision by BNP Paribas to delist the STREAM S&P Dynamic Roll Commodities Fund (former ticker = BNPC) without liquidating it.  I vehemently warned the ETF community that BNP Paribas was not planning to liquidate this ETF, and unfortunately, that is the case.  When shareholders receive their monthly brokerage statements, they will be horrified to see those ETF shares still in their account but with a CUSIP number instead of a ticker symbol.  I bought a few shares prior to the delisting in order to have a front row seat to this train wreck.  BNP Paribas, welcome to the ETF Hall of Shame.  

Assets grew by 1.7% in April to $1.49 trillion.  The number of funds with more than $1 billion in assets now stands at a record 202, exceeding 200 for the first time ever.  These products represent less than 14% of the offerings, yet control nearly 89% of the assets. 

Trading activity picked up significantly for the month with $1.43 trillion of ETFs and ETNs changing hands, a 30% increase over March.  Nine products averaged more than $1 billion per day and accounted for 57.8% of all ETP dollars traded.  The monthly turnover rate (total dollar volume divided by assets under management) came in at 0.96. 

April 2013 Month End	ETFs	ETNs	Total
Currently Listed U.S.	1,251	208	1,459
Listed as of 12/31/2012	1,239	206	1,445
New Introductions for Month	20	1	21
Delistings/Closures for Month	1	0	1
Net Change for Month	+19	+1	+20
New Introductions 6 Months	53	9	62
New Introductions YTD	39	4	43
Delistings/Closures YTD	27	2	29
Net Change YTD	+12	+2	+14
Actively-Managed Listings	61	n/a	61
Assets Under Mgmt ($ billion)	$1,472	$18.1	$1,490
% Change in Assets for Month	+1.7%	+1.5%	+1.7%
Qty AUM > $10 Billion	31	0	31
Qty AUM > $1 Billion	199	3	202
Qty AUM > $100 Million	603	23	626
% with AUM > $100 Million	48.2%	11.1%	42.9%
Monthly $ Volume ($ billion)	$1,389	$40.6	$1,430
% Change in Monthly $ Volume	+30.8%	+10.3%	+30.1%
Avg Daily $ Volume > $1 Billion	8	1	9
Avg Daily $ Volume > $100 Million	68	2	70
Avg Daily $ Volume > $10 Million	260	13	273

Data sources:  Daily prices and volume of individual ETPs from Norgate Premium Data.  Fund counts and all other information compiled by Invest With An Edge.

New products launched in April (sorted by launch date):

1. Global X Central Asia & Mongolia Index ETF (AZIA) [AZIA overview]
2. Global X Nigeria Index ETF (NGE) [NGE overview]
3. SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETF (SRLN) [SRLN overview]
4. VelocityShares Emerging Asia DR ETF (ASDR) [ASDR overview]
5. VelocityShares Emerging Markets DR ETF (EMDR) [EMDR overview]
6. VelocityShares Russia DR ETF (RUDR) [RUDR overview]
7. Direxion Daily Brazil Bull 3X Shares (BRZU) [BRZU overview]
8. Direxion Daily South Korea Bull 3X Shares (KORU) [KORU overview]
9. FlexShares International Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund (IQDE) [IQDE overview]
10. FlexShares International Quality Dividend Dynamic Index Fund (IQDY) [IQDY overview]
11. FlexShares International Quality Dividend Index Fund (IQDF) [IQDF overview]
12. Credit Suisse Silver Shares Covered Call ETN (SLVO) [SLVO overview]
13. iShares Enhanced U.S. Large-Cap ETF (IELG) [IELG overview]
14. iShares Enhanced U.S. Small-Cap ETF (IESM) [IESM overview]
15. iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF (MTUM) [MTUM overview]
16. iShares MSCI USA Size Factor ETF (SIZE) [SIZE overview]
17. iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF (VLUE) [VLUE overview]
18. iShares 2016 Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (IBCB) [IBCB overview]
19. iShares 2018 Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (IBCC) [IBCC overview]
20. iShares 2020 Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (IBCD) [IBCD overview]
21. iShares 2023 Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (IBCE) [IBCE overview]

Product closures/delistings in April (sorted by delisting date):

1. STREAM S&P Dynamic Roll Commodities Fund (BNPC) [BNPC To Delist: No Liquidation Plans Announced]

Product changes in April:

1. Effective April 2, Direxion reverse split 8 ETFs and forward split 8 ETFs.
2. After the close on April 15, Deutsche Bank (DB) reopened creations for the 26 PowerShares DB ETNs, reversing the halt it initiated on March 29.
3. Effective April 16, Vanguard transitioned nine of its funds from MSCI indexes to FTSE and CRSP indexes.
4. Effective April 23, ProShares changed the underlying indexes from MSCI to FTSE for ProShares Ultra Europe (UPV) and ProShares UltrShort Europe (EPV).
5. April 30 was the last day of commission-free trading for 10 iShares at Fidelity.

Announced Product Changes for Coming Months:

1. Effective May 1, the SPDR FTSE/Macquarie Infrastructure 100 ETF (GII) will become the SPDR S&P Global Infrastructure ETF (GII).
2. Effective May 1, two iShares ETFs will drop “index” from their names, becoming iShares MSCI Frontier 100 Fund (FM) and iShares MSCI Kokusai Fund (TOK).  They will continue to be passively managed index funds.
3. May 28 will be the last day of trading for iShares Diversified Alternatives Trust (ALT).
4. Effective June 21, the Sustainable North American Oil Sands ETF (SNDS) will undergo an extreme makeover, becoming the YieldShares High Income ETF (YYY) with a different investment objective.

Previous monthly ETF statistics reports are available here.

Disclosure covering writer, editor, publisher, and affiliates: Long the ETF formerly known as BNPC.   No positions in any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.  No income, revenue, or other compensation (either directly or indirectly) received from, or on behalf of, any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.

Launched in November 2009, ALT was the first ETF from iShares that sought to provide alpha instead of just beta exposure.  The actively managed ETF has stated objectives of 6%-8% annualized standard deviation and a Sharpe ratio of 0.50 to 0.75, which translates to annual returns of 4%-7%.  Since inception, ALT has generated just a +0.9% annual return at 6.7% standard deviation, for about a 0.12 Sharpe ratio.

The closure is somewhat surprising as ALT is not a zombie ETF, and there are at least 39 other iShares in worse shape on ETF Deathwatch.  It is the ninth largest of the 44 ETFs in the Alternative Strategies category of the ETF Field Guide.  With $57 million under management, it is has more assets than typical ETF closures.  It is far from being the largest closure though, as PowerShares DB Crude Oil Double Long ETN (former ticker DXO) held more than $600 million when it announced plans to liquidate.

Active management does not appear to be a contributing factor in the decision to close ALT, as more than 29% of Alternative Strategy ETFs fit the actively managed description.  However, it is the only ETF in the category to issue K-1 statements instead of 1099s, which could be a factor.  As always, we recommend selling your shares prior to delisting to avoid any unwelcome surprises.

Disclosure covering writer, editor, and publisher:  No positions in any of the securities mentioned.  No positions in any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.  No income, revenue, or other compensation (either directly or indirectly) received from, or on behalf of, any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.