ETF Deathwatch membership rolls crept back above 300 this month. Thirteen additions and six removals combined to grow the list from 295 to 302. No closures occurred in June, and therefore all products coming off the list were due to health improvements.
WisdomTree has the dubious honor of sponsoring six of this month’s new additions. The firm’s suite of interest rate strategy funds introduced last December has not resonated with investors. The funds employ long/short strategies to produce zero or negative duration. Many retail investors do not fully grasp the concept of bond fund duration, let alone negative duration, so additional investor education may be required. The long awaited rise in interest rates has not commenced either, so it may simply be a case of investors not needing these ETFs just yet.
Eight sponsor brands have double-digit quantities of products on the list this month. ProShares tops the brand list with 50 Deathwatch ETFs, which are mostly leveraged and inverse ETFs targeted at active traders and professional investors. Next in line is Barclays iPath with 43 ETNs, including the ETF Deathwatch poster child iPath Short Enhanced MSCI Emerging Markets ETN (EMSA). No one has bought or sold a share of EMSA since November 9, 2012, which was 615 calendar days ago for anyone counting. Other sponsors with 10 or more names on the list include Invesco PowerShares (29), BlackRock iShares (20), First Trust (17), Global X (13), State Street SPDR (12), and WisdomTree (10).
The average age of products on the list climbed from 43.9 to 44.2 months, and 81 are now more than five years in age. The average asset size is $6.8 million, up slightly from $6.7 million a month ago, and 59 have asset levels below $2 million.
Here is the Complete List of 302 Products on ETF Deathwatch for July 2014 compiled using the objective ETF Deathwatch Criteria.
The 13 ETPs added to ETF Deathwatch for July:
- Credit Suisse Commodity Rotation ETN (CSCR)
- ETRACS CMCI Energy TR ETN (UBN)
- Global X Fertilizers/Potash (SOIL)
- iShares MSCI Emerging Markets EMEA (EEME)
- Market Vectors Emerging Market Aggregate Bond ETF (EMAG)
- Recon Capital Nasdaq-100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD)
- SPDR MSCI EM Beyond BRIC ETF (EMBB)
- WisdomTree Barclays US Aggregate Bond Negative Duration (AGND)
- WisdomTree Barclays US Aggregate Bond Zero Duration (AGZD)
- WisdomTree BofA ML High Yield Bond Negative Duration (HYND)
- WisdomTree BofA ML High Yield Bond Zero Duration (HYZD)
- WisdomTree China Dividend Ex-Financials (CHXF)
- WisdomTree Japan Interest Rate Strategy (JGBB)
The 6 ETPs removed from ETF Deathwatch due to improved health:
- AdvisorShares Madrona International (FWDI)
- EGShares Emerging Markets Domestic Demand (EMDD)
- iShares Dow Jones-UBS Roll Select Commodity (CMDT)
- iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Consumer Discretionary (EMDI)
- PowerShares Fundamental Pure Large Value (PXLV)
- RBS Rogers Enhanced Industrial Metals ETN (RGRI)
ETPs removed from ETF Deathwatch due to delisting:
none
ETF Deathwatch Archives
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.