ETF Stats for December 2010: 1,099 and $1 Trillion

The total quantity of new product introductions in 2010 was 223, consisting of 180 ETFs and 43 ETNs.  There were 49 closures during the year, putting the net increase of listings for 2010 at 174 (131 ETFs and 43 ETNs).

2010 enters the history books as the year with the third largest number of new introductions, the third largest number of closures, and the second largest number of net new listings.  Current records include the 291 introductions and 291 net new listings of 2007, and the 58 closures of 2008.

The high pace of new product introduction in late November carried over into the first nine days of December.  Then the new product well went dry.  Sponsors launched sixteen new ETFs and two ETNs in December.  The quantity of listed ETPs climbed as high as 1,109 during the month.  However, December 14 was the final day of trading for 10 PowerShares ETFs, pushing the total back below 1,100 to end the year at 1,099 (967 ETFs and 132 ETNs).

Trading activity declined significantly for the month, with volume falling off after the December 17 session and remaining low through the holidays.  Total dollar volume for ETPs came in at just over $1.1 trillion, a huge -21.8% drop from the November level.  With 22 trading days for the month, the daily average was just $50.3 billion (a nearly 25% drop from November).

The number of ETFs in the Billion Dollar Club, those averaging more than one billion dollars in daily trading activity, decreased from ten to just six.  Products averaging more than $100 million per day came in at 62, four fewer than November. 

Assets in ETFs increased +6.5% to $994.5 billion.  When the ETN assets of $13.8 billion are added in, the combined total exceeds a trillion dollars for the first time.  The year-end total of $1.009 trillion represents a healthy +27.5% increase over year-end 2009.

Data sources:  AUM from National Stock Exchange, daily prices and volume of individual ETPs from Norgate Premium Data, fund counts and all other information compiled by Invest With An Edge. 

New products launched in December (in chronological order):

1. AdvisorShares Peritus High Yield ETF (HYLD) (The First Actively Managed High Yield ETF)
2. UBS E-TRACS Daily Long-Short VIX ETN (XVIX) (The First Volatility Strategy ETP)
3. PowerShares KBW High Dividend Yield Financial Portfolio (KBWD) (PowerShares Introduces Four KBW Financial ETFs)
4. PowerShares KBW International Financial Portfolio (KBWX)
5. PowerShares KBW Premium Yield Equity REIT Portfolio (KBWY)
6. PowerShares KBW Property & Casualty Insurance Portfolio (KBWP)
7. ETFS Physical White Metal Basket Shares (WITE) (ETF Securities Brings Forth The White Metals Basket)
8. iShares Barclays 0-5 Year TIPS Bond Fund (STIP) (A Short-Term TIPS ETF From iShares)
9. Rydex Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF (EWRI) (Five New Equal Weight ETFs From Rydex)
10. Rydex Russell 2000 Equal Weight ETF (EWRS)
11. Rydex Russell Midcap Equal Weight ETF (EWRM)
12. Rydex MSCI EAFE Equal Weight ETF (EWEF)
13. Rydex MSCI Emerging Markets Equal Weight ETF (EWEM)
14. Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 2x Shares (NUGT) (Direxion Adds Leverage To GDX – Market Vectors Gold Miners)
15. Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bear 2x Shares (DUST)
16. RBS US Large Cap Trendpilot ETN (TRND) (RBS Enters ETN Arena With Timed S&P 500)
17. Direxion Airline Shares (FLYX) (Direxion Airline Shares Take Off Into Turbulence)
18. ProShares RAFI Long/Short (RALS) (ProShares Launches RAFI Long/Short ETF)

Product closures/delistings in December:

1. PowerShares Dynamic Healthcare Services Portfolio (PTJ) (PowerShares Closing 10 ETFs in December)
2. PowerShares Dynamic Telecommunications & Wireless Portfolio (PTE)
3. PowerShares FTSE NASDAQ Small Cap Portfolio (PQSC)
4. PowerShares FTSE RAFI Europe Portfolio (PEF)
5. PowerShares FTSE RAFI Japan Portfolio (PJO)
6. PowerShares Global Biotech Portfolio (PBTQ)
7. PowerShares Global Progressive Transportation Portfolio (PTRP)
8. PowerShares NASDAQ-100 BuyWrite Portfolio (PQBW)
9. PowerShares NXQ Portfolio (PNXQ)
10. PowerShares Zacks Small Cap Portfolio (PZJ)

Product changes in December:

1. Effective 12/16/10, FTSE changed the name of the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index to FTSE China 25 Index resulting in revised names for iShares FTSE China 25 Index Fund (FXI), ProShares Short FTSE China 25 (YXI), ProShares UltraShort FTSE China 25 (FXP), and ProShares  Ultra FTSE China 25 (XPP)
2. Effective 12/20/10, State Street SPDRs changed the name, ticker, and underlying index of seven equity ETFs and the name and index of two bond ETFs (State Street Abandons Dow Jones Style-Box ETFs)

Announced Product Changes for Coming Months:

1. Market Vectors Nuclear Energy ETF (NLR) will change its name to Market Vectors Uranium+Nuclear Energy ETF (NLR) effective 1/5/11.

Previous monthly ETF statistics reports are available here.

Disclosure covering writer, editor, publisher, and affiliates: No positions in any of the securities mentioned. No positions in any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.  No income, revenue, or other compensation (either directly or indirectly) received from, or on behalf of, any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.