More ETFs But Assets Down in November

Exchange-traded fund assets fell back a bit in the midst of market turbulence during November but the number of U.S. listed ETFs surged over 600 and globally broke through the 1,000 barrier.

At the end of November, 612 ETFs in the US were managed by 19 ETF managers, with assets totaling approximately $576BN according to information provided by State Street Global Advisors. U.S. industry assets decreased approximately $8BN from $584BN in October 2007. Twenty-six new ETFs were launched during the month of November.

Barclays Global Investors (BGI) had the largest assets under management with $326BN across 149 ETFs, followed by State Street with $132BN across 64 ETFs. In a distant third place was Vanguard which has been aggressively reducing fees to gain market share. Collectively, these three ETF families accounted for approximately 87% of the US-listed ETF market.

State Street ETFs bucked market trends by adding more than $5BN in net inflows in November, led by SPDR® S&P® 500 with $4.1BN in net inflows. State Street ETF assets climbed $2.9BN for the month and more than $30BN YTD. The SPDR International Treasury Bond ETF (BWX) , which is a holding in some of Chartwell ETF's model portfolios, has gained over $130MM in assets since its launch in early October.

Overall, International ETF assets fell $8.3BN, or 4.9% to $163.4BN while fixed income ETFs gained $2.6BN in assets, climbing to $32.9BN.