ETF Odds & Ends: Beyond Bitcoin

This was a historical week for the ETF space with the first bitcoin futures ETFs rolling out, but the rest of the space was fairly quiet. However, there were some closures, name changes and share splits.

On Oct. 15, GeaSphere Advisors rolled out the Alpha Dog ETF (RUFF). The actively managed fund invests primarily in mid- to large cap U.S. securities that it selects from the top-performing sectors of the U.S. market. It also manages risk through an options overlay. RUFF charges an expense ratio of 0.90% and lists on the NYSE Arca.

And on Oct. 19, ETF Managers Group launched the ETFMG Real Estate Tech ETF (HHH), which tracks a cap-weighted index of real estate technology companies. It has an expense ratio of 0.75% and lists on the NYSE Arca.

Closures

There were quite a few closures announced or completed during the week, with iShares in particular outlining a number of pending shutdowns in its target maturity iBonds family.

The affected funds and their last days of trading are as follows:

• iShares iBonds Dec 2021 Term Treasury ETF (IBTA), Nov. 30
• iShares iBonds Dec 2021 Term Muni Bond ETF (IBMJ), Dec. 1
• iShares iBonds 2021 Term High Yield and Income ETF (IBHA), Dec. 15
• iShares iBonds Dec 2021 Term Corporate ETF (IBDM), Dec. 15

Similarly, Invesco will shutter two of its target maturity bond ETFs—Invesco BulletShares 2021 Corporate Bond ETF (BSCL) and the Invesco BulletShares 2021 Municipal Bond ETF (BSML)—on or around Dec. 15.

The EquityCompass Tactical Risk Manager ETF (TERM) closed on Oct. 18 after being merged into the EquityCompass Risk Manager ETF (ERM). Meanwhile, the Riverfront Dynamic Unconstrained Income ETF (RFUN) saw its last day of trading on Oct. 20, and the Trend Aggregation Growth ETF (TAAG) had its last day of trading on Oct. 22.

The pending closure of the Emles Protective Allocation ETF (DEFN) was also announced, with its last day of trading set for Oct 28. Further, the iPath Bloomberg Natural Gas Subindex Total Return ETN (GAZF), which has been trading over the counter since late 2017, is set to be called on Oct. 29.

The number of completed closures for the year so far is 54, far fewer than the 212 that closed by this time last year.

Name Changes

Three Pacer defined outcome ETFs are also set to change their names as of Dec. 17. The changes are as follows:

• The Pacer Swan SOS Conservative (December) ETF (PSCX) will change its name to the Pacer Swan SOS Conservative (January) ETF.
• The Pacer Swan SOS Moderate (December) ETF (PSMD) will change its name to the Pacer Swan SOS Moderate (January) ETF.
• The Pacer Swan SOS Flex (December) ETF (PSFD) will change its name to the Pacer Swan SOS Flex (January) ETF.

And, effective Oct. 22, the ASYMshares ASYMmetric 500 ETF (ASPY) changed its name to the ASYMshares ASYMmetric S&P 500 ETF.

Finally, a group of Direxion ETFs underwent share splits, also effective Oct. 22. The Direxion Daily Regional Banks Bull 3X Shares (DPST) and the Direxion Daily Retail Bull 3X Shares (RETL) will each undergo 5-for-1 forward splits. Meanwhile, the Direxion Daily MSCI Real Estate Bear 3X Shares (DRV) and the Direxion Daily Technology Bear 3X Shares (TECS) will undergo 1-for-10 reverse splits on the same day.

Contact Heather Bell at [email protected]