ETF Watch: A Dozen Closures Scheduled

With the latest announced fund closures, it looks as if March will probably match the number of closures it saw last year. With Elkhorn most recently announcing the shutdown of two of its funds, a total of 16 funds are now expected to close in March. Last year a total of 17 ETFs closed during March.

The Elkhorn S&P 500 Capital Expenditures Portfolio (CAPX), Elkhorn’s first ETF, and the Elkhorn FTSE RAFI U.S. Equity Income ETF (ELKU) are both set to see their last day of trading on March 14. Both funds launched in 2015, but neither gathered much in the way of assets.

WisdomTree announced earlier this week that it would shut down seven of its funds after their last day of trading on March 22. The funds include the following:

• WisdomTree Indian Rupee Fund (ICN)
• WisdomTree Australia & New Zealand Debt Fund (AUNZ)
• WisdomTree Korea Hedged Equity Fund (DXKW)
• WisdomTree Japan Hedged Tech Media & Telecom Fund (DXJT)
• WisdomTree Japan Quality Dividend Growth Fund (JDG)
• WisdomTree International Hedged Equity Fund (HDWM)
• WisdomTree International Hedged SmallCap Dividend Fund (HDLS)

Around the same time, Direxion also said it would be closing some of its funds. The three ETFs will see their last day of trading on March 31:

• Direxion Daily Cyber Security & IT Bear 2X Shares (HAKD)
• Direxion Daily Pharmaceutical & Medical Bull 2x Shares (PILL)
• Direxion Daily Pharmaceutical & Medical Bear 2x Shares (PILS)

And late in February, we reported two closures announced by PIMCO for March 31 and another two from OppenheimerFunds that are set for March 9. Last year was a record year for closures, and if March is setting the pace for 2017, this year could beat last year.

Contact Heather Bell at [email protected].