Guggenheim To Replace Rydex Brand

Guggenheim Partners LLC, the company behind the ETF family of the same name, is planning to combine 11 asset management business into a single firm and in that process will eliminate the RydexShares ETF brand. Guggenheim acquire Rydex SGI last year. Rydex is known as the largest issuer of equal-weight ETFs and as the sponsor of the CurrencyShares series of forex ETFs. The combined company will have $12 billion in ETF assets under management and over $24 billion in mutual fund assets. Rydex had 36 ETFs with $8.5 billion in AUM at the end of August, according to the National Stock Exchange. That made the firm the ninth-largest U.S. ETF issuer. Guggenheim had 43 ETFs with $3.3 billion in AUM at the end of last month. The combined Guggenheim/Rydex operation will be the eighth-largest U.S. ETF, Reuters reported, citing Lipper. Guggenheim's push into the ETF business started in earnest in 2009 when acquired Claymore. Some of the firm's more well popular ETFs include the Guggenheim Solar ETF TAN and the Guggenheim China Small-Cap ETF HAO.