ETF Review

By: EconomyWatch   Date: 4 August 2009

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An ETF review offersinsight into the trends in the ETF industry during the course of a quarter, six months or a year. ETFs have many virtues, but the Financial Crisis of 2008 revealed some of their vices as well. Despite the fallout, the ETF review exhibited the underlying strength in the industry that gave investors some hope.

 

ETF Review for 2008 

The ETF review for 2008 was anything but morbid. Though the ETF market faced periods of downtrend due to heightened investor concerns, the rebounds were strong enough to tide over the rough times.

The 2008 review on the ETF market depicted some encouraging trends:

  • Bear market ETFs were among the few that gave returns of nearly 90%.

  • The net flows, which compare redemptions against creation activity, moved in the opposite directions as that of traditional mutual funds. The year marked the biggest reversal in fortunes for money flows between ETFs and more established mutual funds ever seen.

  • Although the bond market took a bad hit, the performance of bond ETFs was better. For example, the Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury Index ETF yielded returns of more than 50%.

  • Barclays Global Investors and State Street Global Advisors combined accounted for more than $32 billion of the industry's $42.8 billion total net inflows.

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  • ETF investors preferred to invest in the worst-performing stock fund categories.

  • The ETF provider that posted net outflows in 2006 also announced net inflows in 2008.

  • While about 50 ETFs were closed, more than 200 new ETFs were launched.

 

ETF Review for Mid 2009  

 

According to the Mid-Year 2009 ETF Review by State Street Global Advisors, one of the largest global ETF providers, capital flows into this market segment remained strong on rising demand for liquid, cost-efficient and transparent investment vehicles.

 

However, the focus of ETF asset flows in the US shifted from large cap and developed international equities to emerging markets and defensive asset classes. These defensive asset classes included commodities and corporate bonds. The flows into exchange traded commodities (ETCs) more than doubled from their lows in November 2008, reflecting the strength of investor interest in this asset class. In the commodities sector, the performance of the industrial metals was the strongest, as the Dow Jones-UBS Industrial Metals Sub-IndexSM surged by 28%.

 

The trends that played a key role in the shift were:

  • Continued success of inverse and leveraged products

  • Investor approach for gaining exposure to commodities

  • Rising acceptance of fixed income ETFs

  • Revival in demand for emerging market products

  • Continued concerns over inflation

 

 

 


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