ETF Odds & Ends: Muted Launches, More Closures

Closures are racking up at a steady but slow pace. 

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Reviewed by: Heather Bell & Dan Mika
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Edited by: Heather Bell & Dan Mika

It was a sedate week for launches, with only a handful rolling out.

Most notably, Direxion launched a trio of 2x leveraged ETFs. The funds debuted on the NYSE Arca Thursday, bringing the size of Direxion’s overall ETF offering to 83.

The Direxion Daily FinTech Bull 2X Shares (FNTC) and Direxion Daily Oil Services Bull 2X Shares (ONG) charge 1.07% in fees, while the Direxion Daily S&P 500 Equal Weight Bull 2X Shares (EVEN) charges 1.23%.

All three funds carry a waiver of 2 basis points that expires in September 2023.

That same day, Amberwave Partners, a joint venture between three alumni of the Treasury Department, launched its first ETF, which focuses on companies deemed to provide the most economic benefits to the U.S. The Amberwave Invest USA JSG Fund (IUSA) debuted on the NYSE Arca with an expense ratio of 0.67%.

IUSA rates companies in the S&P 500 with internal methodology to estimate contributions to U.S. national security interests, and to the health of the country’s broader economy and labor market. It then selects the top 20% of companies in each industry sector by that methodology, and weights its holdings to align with the S&P 500’s sector exposure.

Finally, Rareview Capital launched its fourth ETF by dipping into equities for the first time.

The Rareview Systematic Equity ETF (RSEE) debuted on the Cboe Global Markets Friday with an initial expense ratio of 1.09%. A waiver of 3 basis points is in place until the end of January 2023.

The actively managed fund targets small and large cap U.S. companies, along with firms in developing and developed markets.

Rareview's existing three ETFs are fixed income funds.

Closures

The situation was very different for closures. With just 78 ETF shutdowns during all of last year, the count for 2021 retreated to levels not seen since 2013. This year has demonstrated a different pattern, with several launches or closures already completed, more than we had seen by this time last year.

Today was the last day of trading for the Fat Tail Risk ETF (FATT), which was launched by Tuttle Tactical Management in May 2021, less than a year ago.

Another two funds are set to close in February. The Pacer Salt Low truBeta US Market ETF (LSLT) and the Pacer Salt High truBeta U.S. Market ETF (SLT) are scheduled to close to new creations on Feb. 16 and see their last day of trading on Feb. 24. The two funds were launched in 2019 and 2018, respectively, but were acquired by Pacer in 2020.

Changes To ETFs
A number of existing ETFs are undergoing material changes. For example, the Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF (META) will change its ticker to METV effective Jan. 31.

Two WisdomTree funds completed ticker and name changes as of Jan. 18. The WisdomTree International Dividend ex-Financials Fund (DOO) changed its name to the WisdomTree International AI Enhanced Value Fund and adopted the ticker AIVI, while the WisdomTree U.S. Dividend ex-Financials Fund (DTN) changed its name to the WisdomTree U.S. AI Enhanced Value Fund and its ticker to AIVL.

And as of the end of the month, five Alpha Architect ETFs will drop their indexes to adopt active management.

They include the Alpha Architect International Quantitative Momentum ETF (IMOM), which currently tracks the Alpha Architect International Quantitative Momentum Index; the Alpha Architect International Quantitative Value ETF (IVAL), which currently tracks the Alpha Architect International Quantitative Value Index; the Alpha Architect U.S. Quantitative Momentum ETF (QMOM), which currently tracks the Alpha Architect Quantitative Momentum Index; the Alpha Architect U.S. Quantitative Value ETF (QVAL), which currently tracks the Alpha Architect Quantitative Value Index; and the Alpha Architect Value Momentum Trend ETF (VMOT), which currently tracks the Alpha Architect Value Momentum Trend Index.

 

Contact Heather Bell at [email protected]

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