Out of Focus: Jim Wiandt on Declining ETF Assets

By Murray Coleman

I don't understand why Jim Wiandt feels a drop in ETF assets from a peak of $625 billion to $560 billion now is that big of a deal (especially considering the current market conditions).

Growth in assets is made up of a combination of market appreciation and net flows. Despite not knowing a specific breakdown of the exact contribution of each, the depth of this year's stock slump seems to make the situation a little more obvious, doesn't it?

Consider that VTI and SPY are both down more than 11% this year. So, a 10-11% drop in ETF assets would actually indicate that there's more net new money being put into ETFs...

Doesn't seem like a big-time drain going on at all—just the opposite—which would also help explain why ProShares' push in ETFs is meeting with such relative success in highly volatile times.