ETF Stats for March 2011: Trading Surges 48 Percent

Thirty new ETFs and eight new ETNs arrived in March.  This was the best month for new product introductions since 43 arrived in June 2008.  No products were closed in March, marking the third straight month without any closures and keeping the year-to-date count at zero.  The total number of listed products stood at 1,173 (1,030 ETFs and 143 ETNs) as of 3/31/11.  The menu of actively-managed ETFs increased by one to 34.

Trading activity surged in March, with total ETP dollar volume jumping +48.5% for the month to more than $1.8 trillion.  Granted, March had 23 trading days compared to only 19 in February, but daily average dollar volume still climbed by nearly 23%.

The number of ETFs in the Billion Dollar Club – those averaging more than one billion dollars in daily trading activity – jumped from eight to eleven.  Those eleven funds, less than 1% of the total, accounted for 62% of all ETP dollars traded.

Products trading an average of more than $100 million per day came in at 75, six more than February.  Those 75 funds, just a little over 6% of the total ETPs, accounted for more than 90% of all dollars traded.

Assets under management were $1.08 trillion at the end of March, up +2.1% for the month and +6.9% year-to-date.

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 March (in chronological order):

1. Global X FTSE Argentina 20 ETF (ARGT) (ARGT: The Second Single-Country Frontier Market ETF)
2. PowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio (BKLN) (BKLN: The First Senior Loan ETF)
3. 2x Monthly Leveraged Credit Suisse Merger Arbitrage Liquid Index ETN (CSMB) (CSMB: Merger Arbitrage Times Two)
4. Market Vectors Colombia ETF (COLX) (Market Vectors Introduces Colombia ETF With Cash Creations)
5. Global X Pure Gold Miners ETF (GGGG) (Global X Distills A Pure Gold Miners ETF)
6. Global X Oil Equities ETF (XOIL) (XOIL Tries To Be Spot-On Spot)
7. WisdomTree Asia Local Debt Fund (ALD) (Assets In New WisdomTree ETF Instantly Surpass Majority Of Existing Products)
8. Morgan Stanley Cushing MLP High Income ETN (MLPY) (Morgan Stanley Becomes ETN Issuer With New MLP Product)
9. Global X S&P/TSX Venture 30 Canada ETF (TSXV) (TSXV Takes You To Canada's TSX Venture Exchange)
10. IQ Global Agribusiness Small Cap ETF (CROP) (CROP: The First Agribusiness ETF With A Small Cap Focus)
11. ProShares Short High Yield (SJB) (ProShares Launches Inverse Investment Grade and Junk Bond ETFs)
12. Direxion Daily Total Bond Market Bear 1x Shares (SAGG) (Three Non-Leveraged Inverse Bond ETFs From Direxion)
13. Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bear 1x Shares (TYNS)
14. Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bear 1x Shares (TYBS)
15. PowerShares DB German Bund Futures ETN (BUNL) (PowerShares and DB Team Up On New Foreign Bond ETNs)
16. PowerShares DB 3x German Bund Futures ETN (BUNT)
17. PowerShares DB Italian Treasury Bond Futures ETN (ITLY)
18. PowerShares DB 3x Italian Treasury Bond Futures ETN (ITLT)
19. PowerShares DB Japanese Govt Bond Futures ETN (JGBL)
20. PowerShares DB 3x Japanese Govt Bond Futures ETN (JGBT)
21. ProShares Short Investment Grade Corporate (IGS) (ProShares Launches Inverse Investment Grade and Junk Bond ETFs)
22. Focus Morningstar US Market Index ETF (FMU) (FocusShares Rides Again)
23. Focus Morningstar Large Cap Index ETF (FLG)
24. Focus Morningstar Mid Cap Index ETF (FMM)
25. Focus Morningstar Small Cap Index ETF (FOS)
26. Focus Morningstar Basic Materials Index ETF (FBM)
27. Focus Morningstar Communication Services Index ETF (FCQ)
28. Focus Morningstar Consumer Cyclical Index ETF (FCL)
29. Focus Morningstar Consumer Defensive Index ETF (FCD)
30. Focus Morningstar Energy Index ETF (FEG)
31. Focus Morningstar Financial Services Index ETF (FFL)
32. Focus Morningstar Health Care Index ETF (FHC)
33. Focus Morningstar Industrials Index ETF (FIL)
34. Focus Morningstar Real Estate Index ETF (FRL)
35. Focus Morningstar Technology Index ETF (FTQ)
36. Focus Morningstar Utilities Index ETF (FUI)
37. iShares MSCI China Index Fund (MCHI) (There Are Now 23 China ETFs)
38. iShares High Dividend Equity Fund (HDV) (Another Dividend ETF Arrives)

Product closures/delistings in March:

none

Product changes in March:

1. United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) underwent a 1-for-2 reverse split on March 9.
2. Van Eck resumed share creation for Market Vectors Egypt ETF (EGPT) on March 23 after the Egyptian Stock Exchange reopened for trading.
3. PowerShares changed the symbols for the PowerShares QQQ Trust and its small cap sector suite effective March 23.
4. First Trust Large Cap Growth Opportunities AlphaDEX (FTC) and First Trust Large Cap Value Opportunities AlphaDEX (FTA) changed their fund names and underlying indexes by removing the word “Opportunities” effective March 25.
5. Global X renamed two funds effective March 31.  The new names are Global X FTSE Colombia 20 ETF (GXG) and Global X FTSE Nordic Region ETF (GXF).

Announced Product Changes for Coming Months:

1. Global X FTSE Colombia 20 ETF (GXG) will undergo a 2-for-1 split effective April 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.