Top 50 ETFs by Revenue Per Fund

By Jim Wiandt

In writing my blog, I've put together some very interesting data about the actual size, revenue-wise, of the U.S. ETF industry.

There are 664 ETFs in Index Universe's database (with loads of fully sortable data points downloadable to an Excel spreadsheet for those of you not acquainted). I split them right down the middle and looked at fund number 337 sorted by expense ratio. That fund would be the iShares UK (EWU) - and it has an expense ratio of...drum roll...57 basis points. You do that same list of 664 and take weight by average ER per dollar, and that number goes down significantly.

And I've had to spend a little time on this project.

But I put all the ETFs we have on a spreadsheet. I multiplied all the assets for each ETF by its respective expense ratio. Then I divided that number by the total assets under management number of all ETFs, and voila, I get the average-dollar-weighted expense ratio for the U.S. universe of ETFs.

And what is it?

35.4995 bps

Soon I realized - oh man, I'm on to something here with this spreadsheet. Give me a guess as to what the total revenues are in the ETF business (this is based on the $560 billion in assets in the 603 funds I had left after hacking out all the HOLDRs and funds that were missing ERs for whatever reason).

It's $1.994 billion. And here are the top money earners in the ETF business:

These are the top 50 ETFs sorted by revenue per fund. Bear in mind this is just a quick snapshot for the blog, so while I've cleaned the data a bit, I have not done it thoroughly, though this should give you a good idea of the lay of the land.

Fund Name	Ticker	Exp Ratio	Assets ($MM)	Revenue Per Fund
iShares MSCI Emerg Mkts	EEM	0.74	26,031	192,629,400
iShares MSCI EAFE	EFA	0.35	46,850	163,975,000
streetTRACKS Gold Shares	GLD	0.40	19,967	79,866,400
SPDRs (S&P 500)	SPY	0.10	66,487	66,486,500
iShares Brazil	EWZ	0.74	7,522	55,662,800
iShares Japan	EWJ	0.57	8,162	46,522,260
iShares FTSE/Xinhua China	FXI	0.74	6,156	45,550,700
PowerShares QQQQ	QQQQ	0.20	16,422	32,843,600
ProShares UltraShort S&P 500	SDS	0.95	2,923	27,763,750
iShares R1000 Growth	IWF	0.20	13,211	26,421,400
iPath DJ-AIG Commodity	DJP	0.75	3,348	25,109,250
iShares South Korea	EWY	0.74	3,323	24,593,160
PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund	DBA	0.91	2,699	24,561,810
iShares DJ Sel Dividend	DVY	0.40	5,950	23,799,200
iShares Taiwan	EWT	0.74	2,955	21,865,520
MidCap SPDR (S&P 400)	MDY	0.25	7,917	19,791,500
iShares MSCI ex-Japn	EPP	0.50	3,672	18,358,500
Vanguard Emerging Markets	VWO	0.30	6,098	18,294,000
UltraShort Financials ProShares	SKF	0.95	1,918	18,222,900
DB Commodity Index	DBC	0.83	2,146	17,809,310
iShares S&P 500	IVV	0.10	17,539	17,539,100
iShares R1000 Value	IWD	0.20	8,633	17,265,400
iShares Lehman Aggregate	AGG	0.20	8,501	17,001,800
iShares Silver Trust	SLV	0.50	3,383	16,915,500
iShares Russell 2000	IWM	0.20	8,382	16,764,800
iShares S&P Latin 40	ILF	0.50	3,329	16,642,500
iShares EMU (Eurozone)	EZU	0.58	2,779	16,115,880
ProShares UltraShort QQQ	QID	0.95	1,610	15,296,900
Energy SPDR	XLE	0.26	5,784	15,037,360
iShares Lehman 1-3 Treas	SHY	0.15	9,893	14,840,100
DIAMONDS Trust	DIA	0.18	8,142	14,655,780
iShares S&P Euro-350	IEV	0.60	2,413	14,480,400
Financial SPDR	XLF	0.26	5,440	14,144,520
iShares Hong Kong	EWH	0.57	2,437	13,888,620
PowerShares Water Resources	PHO	0.67	2,044	13,693,460
iShares Lehman TIPS Bond	TIP	0.20	6,386	12,772,600
Market Vectors Gold Miners	GDX	0.55	2,191	12,049,400
iShares GS Nat Res	IGE	0.50	2,339	11,692,500
iShares Germany Indx	EWG	0.57	1,966	11,203,350
iShares Canada Index	EWC	0.57	1,911	10,890,990
iShares DJ Real Estate	IYR	0.60	1,801	10,806,600
iShares S&P 500 Growth	IVW	0.18	5,873	10,571,220
ProShares UltraShort Russell 2000	TWM	0.95	1,073	10,189,700
PShares WilderHill Clean Engy	PBW	0.71	1,400	9,939,290
Market Vectors Agribusiness ETF	MOO	0.65	1,521	9,885,200
iShares Singapore	EWS	0.57	1,729	9,856,440
ProShares Ultra QQQ	QLD	0.95	947	8,999,350
iShares S&P 400 MidCap	IJH	0.20	4,433	8,865,000
iShares R2000 Value	IWN	0.25	3,511	8,776,250

Ah - if I only had more time, I could do this sort of thing all day and be happy as a pig in...a very dirty pen.

Comments

[22thoroughbred:]

While I appreciate all the time and e-paper spent compiling the information, what does it mean? That some of the firms putting out more product are making money on that product?

2008 Apr 06 05:56 PM

[Vancan:]

Jim, with much respect for the work you have done, I have to agree with Thoroughbred. I have no problem with the ETF industry making lots of money because they offer a valuable service. I mean, how else am I going to invest in the Dow Industrials without something like DIA, which is adjusted daily for only .18. (The ER should be .10, but maybe it will come down. After all, the SPDR people are doing better with an ER of .10.)

The list I would love to see is that of investor profit per fund after expenses. What funds are at the top of that list? --during the last year and during the last 10 years? My benchmark is DIA and I'll bet several funds can beat it during the last 12 months, but not in the long run.

Thanks

2008 Apr 06 09:08 PM

[Greg Pinelli:]

So..the point of this compilation is what??? Either Alpha needs to start publishing ANALYSIS or it will..if it has not already become..irrelevant. [Comment edited for abusive language. Commenter put on notice]

2008 Apr 06 10:02 PM

[Haley:]

Well,

I have to say I found it very interesting. To see some direct competitors (IVV and SPY) have very small ERs. And compare that to those that should have ERs lower (EEM) and see none of the big funds companies has a reasonable alternative. Explains the slippage on some funds. I don't really care about the total dollars, but the ERs comparison is very interesting. It also shows iShares has done a great job of pricing their market. Off to see if they are public.

Matt

2008 Apr 07 12:36 AM

[Haley:]

I thought it was interesting. Showed pricing power exists in the way iShares is segmenting. Also showed direct competition by segment worked to bring prices down, even when the options availability and market cap would indicate the much larger player should have pricing power.

Off to see if iShares is public.

Matt

2008 Apr 07 12:38 AM

[Sailorman:]

I would like to find a ETF site that gave daily current data instead of something that is current as of Feb 29th and now it is April 7th

Who has daily current information in order to make an intelligent decision?

2008 Apr 07 09:18 AM

[fanning:]

ETF beats the mutual fund MER and the advantages of tracking your investments constantly. Try to buy gold or silver certificates from banks. The buy and sold price difference per oz. can be $1.00 U.S.and one has to line up at the banks.

2008 Apr 07 09:21 AM

[Marol:]

1. I also don't understand what's been gotten at here.

2. But I do find lists are often useful. As one example, lists of best performers.

2008 Apr 14 12:08 PM

[engineer1:]

Does anybody know where I can find a list of all these lists? JJ

2008 Apr 24 10:42 PM