Barclays ETN Put Out Of Its Misery
Plus, four PowerShares ETFs see their last day of trading.
Friday, Dec. 22, saw Barclays announce the delisting of the iPath Bloomberg Natural Gas Subindex Total Return ETN (GAZ) from the NYSE Arca. The ETN has been closed to creations since 2009.
The problem with GAZ, one of the first ETNs, is that it is not callable. The product, which once was approaching $200 million in assets under management, originally halted creations on concerns about the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission imposing position limits. It never restarted them and fell into a zombie state.
Barclays actually took steps to push assets out of the product earlier this year when assets were at around $3 million. It made the minimum early redemption size smaller (reducing it from 50,000 shares to 5,000) and rolled out the iPath Series B Bloomberg Natural Gas Subindex Total Return ETN (GAZB).
Barclays said in its most recent press release that GAZ was delisting due to “abnormally low trading prices.” The issuer expects the delisting and trading suspension process to play out over the next few trading days. However, GAZ could continue on an over-the-counter basis; Barclays warned in the release that there could be a significant drop in liquidity.
PowerShares Closes 4 Funds
Invesco PowerShares is closing out 2017 by shutting down four of its smallest funds, including three products that combine currency hedging with a low-volatility strategy.
The funds saw their last day of trading on Friday and include the following:
- PowerShares Contrarian Opportunities Portfolio (CNTR)
- PowerShares Developed EuroPacific Currency Hedged Low Vol (FXEP)
- PowerShares Europe Currency Hedged Low Volatility Portfolio (FXEU)
- PowerShares Japan Currency Hedged Low Volatility Portfolio (FXJP)
This year, more than 130 U.S.-listed exchange-traded products have shut down or delisted, edging out 2016, which was a record-breaking year for closures, with 128 shuttered funds.
Contact Heather Bell at [email protected]