There were 21 new ETFs and one new ETN launched in January. No products were delisted. The net increase of 22 brings the current count of listed products to 947. The official count at the end of 2009 stood at 925, consisting of 836 ETFs and 89 ETNs. The year-end quantity was originally reported on January 4 and subsequently verified by the National Stock Exchange.
The ETF industry and analysts are still struggling with their ability to count the number of ETFs and ETNs available at any given time. The wide range of numbers found in various reports borders on absurdity. StateStreet claims the year-end count was 819 ETFs, BlackRock puts it at 912 ETPs, and the industry’s own Investment Company Institute (ICI) places the count at the embarrassingly low number of 797. I’ve seen analysts report the year-end count as low as 772, although most take the safe route of saying “more than 800″.
January was the third month in a row that new product launches exceeded 20, for a three month total of 73. The last time that was accomplished was May-July 2008, when an impressive 97 new products were introduced. Early 2009 (February-April) marked a low point for product introductions when only 14 came to market.
January 2010 Month End | ETFs | ETNs | Total |
---|---|---|---|
Currently Listed U.S. | 857 | 90 | 947 |
Listed as of 12/31/2009 | 836 | 89 | 925 |
New Introductions for Month | 21 | 1 | 22 |
Delistings/Closures for Month | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Net Change for Month | +21 | +1 | +22 |
New Introductions YTD | 21 | 1 | 22 |
Delistings/Closures YTD | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Net Change YTD | +21 | +1 | +22 |
On Deathwatch at End of Month | 69 | 30 | 99 |
% on Deathwatch | 8.1% | 33.3% | 10.4% |
New products launched in January (in chronological order):
- ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (PALL) (Launch of PALL & PPLT)
- ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (PPLT)
- iShares 2012 S&P AMT-Free Municipal Series (MUAA) (New iShares Planned End-Date Muni Series)
- iShares 2013 S&P AMT-Free Municipal Series (MUAB)
- iShares 2014 S&P AMT-Free Municipal Series (MUAC)
- iShares 2015 S&P AMT-Free Municipal Series (MUAD)
- iShares 2016 S&P AMT-Free Municipal Series (MUAE)
- iShares 2017 S&P AMT-Free Municipal Series (MUAF)
- Global X China Materials ETF (CHIM) (Global X China Sector Suite Now Complete)
- Schwab Emerging Markets Equity (SCHE) (Two International ETFs from Schwab)
- Schwab International Small-Cap Equity (SCHC)
- Jefferies | TR/J CRB Wildcatters Exploration & Production Equity ETF (WCAT) (Launch of WCAT)
- ProShares Ultra 20+ Year Treasury (UBT) (Two New Leveraged Long Bond ETFs)
- ProShares Ultra 7-10 Year Treasury (UST)
- iShares MSCI ACWI ex US Financials Sector Index Fund (AXFN) (iShares Begins Rollout of 4 International Sector Suites and first 5 ETFs)
- iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Financials Sector Index Fund (EMFN)
- iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Materials Sector Index Fund (EMMT)
- iShares MSCI Europe Financials Sector Index Fund (EUFN)
- iShares MSCI Far East Financials Sector Index Fund (FEFN)
- UBS E-TRACS S&P 500 Gold Hedged Index ETN (SPGH) (Do Not Buy SPGH)
- Grail McDonnell Core Taxable Bond ETF (GMTB) (Two Active Bond ETFs from Grail)
- Grail McDonnell Intermediate Municipal Bond ETF (GMMB)
Product closures/delistings in January:
none