ProShares has shut three of its ETFs, the first funds to close in August as of the end of trading on Aug. 5, 2019. The shuttered funds are as follows:
The two gold miner funds, which offered -2x and 2x exposure to their underlying index, were launched in 2015 and had very little in the way of assets. The ETFs were tied to the NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index, the same benchmark that underlies the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX).
Meanwhile, WYDE was actively managed and invested in index-based credit default swaps via short positions. The fund was designed to benefit from deteriorating credit conditions.
Year-To-Date Closures/Launches
There were 80 ETF closures for 2019 through the end of July; the shuttering of the ProShares funds brings the total to 83. The end of the July 2018 saw 103 closures from the start of the year. However, keep in mind that the number for 2018 includes the shutdown of 50 iPath ETNs that April. If you factor out that unprecedented event, 2019 is well ahead of 2018’s levels.
While 2019 is trailing 2018 in terms of launches, it’s not by much. By the of July 2018, there had been 150 ETF launches, and by the end of July 2019, that number stood at 144.
The numbers for launches and closures suggest a stable and mature industry that has already seen its most dramatic growth but still has plenty of runway ahead of it.
Contact Heather Bell at [email protected]
