Invest With An Edge

Complete List of 102 ETP Closures for 2012

The ETP Death Toll surged 168% to 102 in 2012 with 82 ETFs and 20 ETNs seeing their last day of US-listed trading during the year.  The quantity easily establishes a new record, swamping the prior high of 58 established four years ago in 2008.  The lifetime count reached 300 in October and now stands at 313.

Closures affected 15 different brands.  FocusShares was the only sponsor to make a 100% exit from the marketplace, making it the second time the firm took such drastic action.  Its first occurrence was in 2008.  Russell came close to a complete exit, closing 25 of its 26 ETFs.

Most of the closures had become Zombie ETFs, and 78 were on ETF Deathwatch at the time of their closure announcements.  Typically, closures are the result of failing to attract enough assets, and in turn, not generating enough revenue for the sponsor.  There were some exceptions, like the triggering of an early termination event to prevent the price from going to zero.  Three products had graceful closings due to reaching their planned maturity and liquidation dates.

The average age of funds that closed in 2012 was 20.3 months (1.8 years).  This is less than the 26.4-month average lifespan of all 313 closed products, suggesting that sponsors are possibly becoming less willing to subsidize non-profitable funds for extended periods.

The table below is sorted by product name.  Additional data columns include the last day of trading and whether the product was on ETF Deathwatch at the time its closure was announced.

 

ETF AND ETN CLOSURES OF 2012

# Ticker Name Last Day Deathwatch Notes
1 DENT AdvisorShares Dent Tactical ETF 08/08/2012 Yes 1
2 FXM CurrencyShares Mexican Peso Trust 03/23/2012 –
3 FXRU CurrencyShares Russian Ruble Shares 03/23/2012 Yes
4 COWS Direxion Daily Agribusiness Bear 3x 09/05/2012 Yes
5 COWL Direxion Daily Agribusiness Bull 3x 09/05/2012 Yes
6 MATS Direxion Daily Basic Materials Bear 3x 09/05/2012 Yes
7 BRIS Direxion Daily BRIC Bear 3x 09/05/2012 Yes
8 BRIL Direxion Daily BRIC Bull 3x 09/05/2012 Yes
9 SICK Direxion Daily Healthcare Bear 3x 09/05/2012 Yes
10 INDZ Direxion Daily India Bear 3x 09/05/2012 Yes
11 LHB Direxion Daily Latin America Bear 3x 09/05/2012 –
12 RETS Direxion Daily Retail Bear 3x 09/05/2012 Yes
13 VXAA ETRACS 1-Month S&P 500 VIX Futures ETN 09/11/2012 Yes
14 VXBB ETRACS 2-Month S&P 500 VIX Futures ETN 09/11/2012 Yes
15 VXCC ETRACS 3-Month S&P 500 VIX Futures ETN 09/11/2012 Yes
16 VXDD ETRACS 4-Month S&P 500 VIX Futures ETN 09/11/2012 Yes
17 VXEE ETRACS 5-Month S&P 500 VIX Futures ETN 09/11/2012 Yes
18 VXFF ETRACS 6-Month S&P 500 VIX Futures ETN 09/11/2012 Yes
19 AAVX ETRACS Daily Short 1-Month S&P VIX Futures ETN 09/11/2012 –
20 BBVX ETRACS Daily Short 2-Month S&P VIX Futures ETN 09/11/2012 –
21 CCVX ETRACS Daily Short 3-Month S&P VIX Futures ETN 09/11/2012 –
22 DDVX ETRACS Daily Short 4-Month S&P VIX Futures ETN 09/11/2012 Yes
23 EEVX ETRACS Daily Short 5-Month S&P VIX Futures ETN 09/11/2012 Yes
24 FFVX ETRACS Daily Short 6-Month S&P VIX Futures ETN 09/11/2012 Yes
25 FBM Focus Morningstar Basic Materials Index ETF 08/17/2012 Yes
26 FCQ Focus Morningstar Communication Srvcs ETF 08/17/2012 Yes
27 FCL Focus Morningstar Consumer Cyclical ETF 08/17/2012 Yes
28 FCD Focus Morningstar Consumer Defensive ETF 08/17/2012 Yes
29 FEG Focus Morningstar Energy Index ETF 08/17/2012 –
30 FFL Focus Morningstar Financial Services ETF 08/17/2012 Yes
31 FHC Focus Morningstar Health Care Index ETF 08/17/2012 Yes
32 FIL Focus Morningstar Industrials Index ETF 08/17/2012 Yes
33 FLG Focus Morningstar Large Cap Index ETF 08/17/2012 –
34 FMM Focus Morningstar Mid Cap Index ETF 08/17/2012 Yes
35 FRL Focus Morningstar Real Estate Index ETF 08/17/2012 Yes
36 FOS Focus Morningstar Small Cap Index ETF 08/17/2012 –
37 FTQ Focus Morningstar Technology Index ETF 08/17/2012 –
38 FMU Focus Morningstar US Market Index ETF 08/17/2012 –
39 FUI Focus Morningstar Utilities Index ETF 08/17/2012 Yes
40 ALUM Global X Aluminum ETF 10/18/2012 Yes
41 VROM Global X Auto ETF 10/18/2012 Yes
42 BARN Global X Farming ETF 02/16/2012 n/a 4
43 FISN Global X Fishing Industry ETF 02/16/2012 Yes
44 EATX Global X Food ETF 02/16/2012 Yes
45 MEXS Global X Mexico Small-Cap ETF 02/16/2012 Yes
46 QQQM Global X NASDAQ 400 Mid Cap ETF 10/18/2012 Yes
47 QQQV Global X NASDAQ 500 ETF 10/18/2012 Yes
48 XOIL Global X Oil Equities ETF 02/16/2012 Yes
49 EMGX Global X Russell Emerging Markets Growth ETF 02/16/2012 Yes
50 EMVX Global X Russell Emerging Markets Value ETF 02/16/2012 Yes
51 WSTE Global X Waste Management ETF 02/16/2012 Yes
52 BSCC Guggenheim BulletShares 2012 Corp Bond 12/28/2012 – 2
53 BSJC Guggenheim BulletShares 2012 HY Bond 12/28/2012 – 2
54 EEN Guggenheim EW Euro-Pacific LDRs ETF 03/23/2012 Yes
55 XGC Guggenheim International Small Cap LDRs 03/23/2012 Yes
56 EWAC Guggenheim MSCI ACWI Equal Weight ETF 03/23/2012 Yes
57 OTR Guggenheim Ocean Tomo Growth Index ETF 03/23/2012 –
58 OTP Guggenheim Ocean Tomo Patent ETF 03/23/2012 Yes
59 XRO Guggenheim Sector Rotation ETF 03/23/2012 Yes
60 VZZB iPath Long Enh 2x S&P 500 VIX M-T Fut ETN 10/14/2012 Yes 3
61 ROSA iPath Short Ext -3x Russell 1000 TR ETN 09/13/2012 Yes 3
62 RTSA iPath Short Ext -3x Russell 2000 TR ETN 09/19/2012 – 3
63 SFSA iPath Short Ext -3x S&P 500 TR Index ETN 09/13/2012 – 3
64 EMER IQ Emerging Markets Mid Cap ETF 12/18/2012 Yes
65 SKOR IQ South Korea Small Cap ETF 08/17/2012 Yes
66 MUAA iShares 2012 S&P AMT-Free Muni Series 08/15/2012 – 2
67 WCAT Jefferies|TR/J CRB Wildcatters Expl & Prod 04/27/2012 –
68 BTAH QuantShares U.S. Market Neutral High Beta 11/02/2012 Yes
69 QLT QuantShares U.S. Market Neutral Quality 11/02/2012 Yes
70 NOMO QuantShares U.S. Mkt Neutral Anti-Momentum 11/02/2012 Yes
71 HBTA Russell 1000 High Beta ETF 10/16/2012 Yes
72 HMTM Russell 1000 High Momentum ETF 10/16/2012 Yes
73 HVOL Russell 1000 High Volatility ETF 10/16/2012 Yes
74 LBTA Russell 1000 Low Beta ETF 10/16/2012 –
75 LVOL Russell 1000 Low Volatility ETF 10/16/2012 –
76 SHBT Russell 2000 High Beta ETF 10/16/2012 Yes
77 SHMO Russell 2000 High Momentum ETF 10/16/2012 Yes
78 SHVY Russell 2000 High Volatility ETF 10/16/2012 Yes
79 SLBT Russell 2000 Low Beta ETF 10/16/2012 Yes
80 SLVY Russell 2000 Low Volatility ETF 10/16/2012 Yes
81 AGRG Russell Aggressive Growth ETF 10/16/2012 Yes
82 CONG Russell Consistent Growth ETF 10/16/2012 –
83 CNTR Russell Contrarian ETF 10/16/2012 Yes
84 XHMO Russell Developed ex-U.S. High Momentum 10/16/2012 Yes
85 XLBT Russell Developed ex-U.S. Low Beta ETF 10/16/2012 Yes
86 XLVO Russell Developed ex-U.S. Low Volatility ETF 10/16/2012 Yes
87 EQIN Russell Equity Income ETF 10/16/2012 –
88 GRPC Russell Growth at a Reasonable Price ETF 10/16/2012 –
89 HDIV Russell High Dividend Yield ETF 10/16/2012 –
90 LWPE Russell Low P/E ETF 10/04/2012 Yes
91 SGGG Russell Small Cap Aggressive Growth ETF 10/16/2012 Yes
92 SCOG Russell Small Cap Consistent Growth ETF 10/16/2012 Yes
93 SCTR Russell Small Cap Contrarian ETF 10/05/2012 Yes
94 DIVS Russell Small Cap High Dividend Yield ETF 10/16/2012 Yes
95 SCLP Russell Small Cap Low P/E ETF 10/16/2012 Yes
96 SCPR VelocityShares 2x Inverse Copper ETN 12/31/2012 Yes
97 IPAL VelocityShares 2x Inverse Palladium ETN 12/28/2012 Yes
98 LCPR VelocityShares 2x Long Copper ETN 12/31/2012 Yes
99 LPAL VelocityShares 2x Long Palladium ETN 12/28/2012 Yes
100 JYF WisdomTree Dreyfus Japan Yen 12/03/2012 Yes 1
101 SZR WisdomTree Dreyfus S. African Rand 12/03/2012 Yes 1
102 ROI WisdomTree LargeCap Growth 12/03/2012 Yes

Notes: 1) actively managed, 2) reached planned maturity, 3) hit early termination trigger, 4) less than 6 months at time of closure announcement.  All exchange traded notes are identified with “ETN” as part of their name description.

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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.