ETF Watch: 13 ProShares Funds To Close

ProShares is poised to close more funds in one swoop than it has in several years. The firm recently announced it would shut down 13 funds by Sept. 6. The pace of closures has picked up significantly this year.

That’s roughly a year after it closed nine funds in August 2016, and a few years after it closed 17 funds in one fell swoop in 2014, its largest closure to date.

The 13 funds in this most recent announcement include nine inverse or leveraged ETFs, two currency-hedged funds and two fixed-income funds.

• ProShares USD Covered Bond (COBO)
• ProShares German Sovereign/Sub-Sovereign ETF (GGOV)
• ProShares Hedged FTSE Europe ETF (HGEU)
• ProShares Hedged FTSE Japan ETF (HGJP)
• ProShares Ultra Junior Miners (GDJJ)
• ProShares Short S&P Regional Banking (KRS)
• ProShares Ultra S&P Regional Banking (KRU)
• ProShares UltraShort MSCI Mexico Capped IMI (SMK)
• ProShares UltraShort Oil & Gas Exploration & Production (SOP)
• ProShares UltraShort 3-7 Year Treasury (TBZ)
• ProShares UltraShort TIPS (TPS)
• ProShares Ultra MSCI Mexico Capped IMI (UMX)
• ProShares Ultra Oil & Gas Exploration & Production (UOP)

Although recently firms have been closing ETFs with significant assets purely for strategic purposes, that’s not the case here. None of the funds has more than $12 million in assets under management, and all were launched in 2015 or earlier.

Roughly 60 funds have been shuttered year-to-date through the end of July, compared with approximately 40 closures by this time last year. Closures were at record levels in 2016, with 128 for the entire year; however, August and September were the top months for ETF shutdowns, with 41 in August and 22 in September.

We’ll see what the next few months hold.

Contact Heather Bell at [email protected]