Closures Almost Matching 2018

Even with the mass closure of iPath ETNs last year, 2019 could still pull ahead for ETF shutdowns.

Last year far and away represented the record for ETF closures, with 152 funds shuttering during 2018. This year is looking to rival the previous one, which is more than a bit remarkable given that the closure count in 2018 was boosted by the mass closure of 50 iPath ETNs that April.

That said, there were nonetheless 63 ETF closures in the first four months of 2019, which compares with a total of 79 closures in the first four months of 2018. If you factor out the outlier of 50 closures in one fell swoop, this year is outpacing last year by a wide margin, and it looks like the rate is going to hold steady.

Three ETFs shut down yesterday as QuantX exited the ETF market, bringing the total number of closures to 67:

• QuantX Risk Managed Growth ETF (QXGG)
• QuantX Risk Managed Multi-Asset Total Return ETF (QXTR)
• QuantX Dynamic Beta US Equity ETF (XUSA)

The QuantX funds launched in January 2017 and never really gathered significant assets.

At least another seven ETFs so far are slated to shut down by the end of June.

Contact Heather Bell at [email protected]