Top ETF and ETP Trends Through the End of Q3 2013

Through the end of Q3 2013, the assets in Exchange traded funds (ETFs) and Exchange traded products (ETPs), listed in the United States have increased by 16.1% from $1.35 trillion to $1.56 trillion, representing a new record high.

In addition, through the end of Q3 2013, ETFs/ETPs have seen net inflows of $131.32 billion, which is slightly below the $134.89 billion at the end of Q3 2012. Equity ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest net inflows YTD with $127.28 billion, followed by fixed income ETFs/ETPs with $9.54 billion, while commodity ETFs/ETPs experienced the largest net outflows YTD with $19.49 billion.

The US ETF/ETP industry has 1,510 ETFs/ETPs, from 56 providers on 3 exchanges.

Equity Exposure

Through the end of Q3 2013, equity ETFs/ETPs have seen net inflows of $127.28 billion. North American equity ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest net inflows YTD with $89.75 billion, followed by global (ex-US) equity with $13,574 billion, and developed Asia Pacific equity with $13.41 billion, while emerging market equity ETFs/ETPs experienced the largest net outflows YTD with $5.98 billion.

Fixed income exposure

YTD through the end of Q3 2013, fixed income ETFs/ETPs have seen net inflows of $9.54 billion. High yield ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest net inflows YTD with $5.69 billion, followed by govt/corp ETFs/ETPs with $3.71 billion, and government bond with $3.37 billion, while inflation ETFs/ETPs experienced the largest net outflows YTD with $4.76 billion.

Commodity exposure

Through the end of Q3 2013, commodity ETFs/ETPs have seen net outflows of $19.49 billion. ETFs/ETPs providing exposure to precious metals experienced the largest net outflows YTD with $19.87 billion, followed by energy with $1.33 billion, while broad commodity ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest net inflows YTD with $2.59 billion.

107 new product launches through the end of Q3 2013 is lower than the number of product launches over the same period in previous years when 146, 250 and 172 new products were launched in the first nine months of 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively. The top 20 new products launches in 2013 have raised $4.87 billion -- or 80.3% of the $6.06 billion gathered by all new product launches YTD.   Thirty-one of the 56 providers launched new products in Q3.  The majority or 52.3% of the new product launches are providing equity exposure while fixed income accounted for 19.6%, and commodities were 4.7%.

YTD through end of Q3 2013, 44 ETFs/ETPs have either delisted or merged, a relatively low number of instances compared to 2012, which saw the largest number of delistings in the US when 100 products closed. The rate of closures so far in 2013 is somewhat comparable to the first nine months of 2009 when 50 ETFs/ETPs had delisted.

Vanguard has gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows YTD with $41.87 billion, followed by iShares with $28.99 billion, then WisdomTree with $12.04 billion, and PowerShares with $10.0 billion.

Only 206 of the 1,510 ETFs/ETPs listed in the US have gathered more than $1 billion in assets.  Their assets account for a combined total of $1.38 trillion, or 88.3%, of all assets.    656 ETFs/ETPs have greater than $100 million in assets while 854 have less than $100 million in assets, 690 have less than $50 million in assets, and 334 ETFs/ETPs have less than $10 million in assets.

S&P Dow Jones has the largest amount of ETF/ETP assets tracking its benchmarks with $530 billion, reflecting 33.8% market share; MSCI is second with $215 billion and 13.7% market share, followed by Barclays with US$169 billion and 10.8% market share.

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/top-etf-and-etp-trends-through-the-end-of-q3-2013-cm294087