The Most Successful ETF Launches of 2008 (So Far)

By Matthew Hougan

How many of the new funds will stick? Let's look at recent history.

Fifty new ETFs launched from December 28, 2007, through May 16, 2008. Of those, I would count three as major successes, which I define as having more than $100 million in assets under management:

• WisdomTree India Earnings ETF (EPI)
• Market Vectors - Coal ETF (KOL)
• Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy ETF (TAN).

Those funds have $267 million, $237 million and $116 million in assets, respectively.

Knocking on the door of the $100 million figure are the SPDR DB International Government Inflation-Protected Bond ETF (WIP) and PowerShares Preferred Portfolio (PGX), which have $96 million and $90 million, respectively.

The full list is available here. All numbers are through May 16, 2008.

ETFs Launched Since January 1, 2008 - Sorted By Assets
Fund	Company	Ticker	Assets ($)
WisdomTree India Earnings Fund	WisdomTree	EPI	266,988,000
Market Vectors - Coal ETF	Van Eck	KOL	236,882,500
Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy Index ETF	Claymore	TAN	116,524,800
SPDR DB International Government Inflation-Protected Bond ETF	SSgA	WIP	95,904,000
PowerShares Preferred Portfolio	PowerShares	PGX	89,958,000
Bear Stearns Current Yield Fund	Bear Stearns	YYY	50,215,000
iShares MSCI Turkey Investable Market Index Fund	BGI	TUR	43,464,000
PowerShares India Portfolio Fund Exchange Traded Fund	PowerShares	PIN	42,770,400
GreenHaven Continuous Commodity Index Fund	GreenHaven	GCC	32,167,000
iShares MSCI Thailand Investable Market Index Fund	BGI	THD	30,666,000
SPDR S&P International Dividend ETF	SSgA	DWX	29,832,000
PowerShares Global Nuclear Energy Portfolio ETF	PowerShares	PKN	24,642,000
Market Vectors - Lehman Brothers AMT-Free Long Municipal Index ETF	Van Eck	MLN	24,315,000
ProShares UltraShort Lehman 20+ Year Treasury	ProShares	TBT	20,997,000
RevenueShares Large Cap Fund ETF	RevenueShares	RWL	20,936,575
WisdomTree Dreyfus Euro Fund	WisdomTree	EU	20,064,000
United States Gasoline Fund, LP	Victoria Bay	UGA	17,598,000
NETS TM TOPIX® Index Fund (Japan)	NETS	TYI	16,140,000
ProShares UltraShort Lehman 7-10 Year Treasury	ProShares	PST	15,770,250
ProShares Ultra Telecommunications	ProShares	LTL	13,266,000
Market Vectors-Solar Energy ETF	Van Eck	KWT	12,921,000
Claymore/AlphaShares China Small Cap Index ETF	Claymore	HAO	11,822,400
United States Heating Oil Fund, LP	Victoria Bay	UHN	11,796,000
Claymore US-1 - The Capital Markets Index ETF	Claymore	UEM	10,330,000
WisdomTree Dreyfus Brazilian Real Fund	WisdomTree	BZF	10,100,000
WisdomTree Dreyfus Chinese Yuan Fund	WisdomTree	CYB	9,980,000
WisdomTree Dreyfus Indian Rupee Fund	WisdomTree	ICN	9,896,000
iShares MSCI Israel	BGI	EIS	8,211,000
ProShares UltraShort Telecommunications	ProShares	TLL	8,125,500
SPDR S&P International Mid Cap ETF	SSgA	MDD	7,150,000
RevenueShares Mid Cap Fund ETF	RevenueShares	RWK	5,465,996
SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Small Cap ETF	SSgA	EWX	5,307,000
RevenueShares Small Cap Fund ETF	RevenueShares	RWJ	5,166,917
NETS DAX Index Fund	NETS	DAX	5,154,000
SPDR DJ Wilshire Global Real Estate ETF	SSgA	RWO	5,064,000
Cohen & Steers Global Realty Majors ETF	ALPS ETF	GRI	5,008,200
Claymore U.S. Capital Markets Micro-Term Fixed Income ETF	Claymore	ULQ	5,007,000
Market Vectors-Lehman Brothers AMT-Free Short Municipal Index ETF	Van Eck	SMB	4,955,000
Claymore U.S. Capital Markets Bond ETF	Claymore	UBD	4,954,000
Market Vectors - Gaming ETF	Van Eck	BJK	3,904,000
PowerShares- Active Alpha Q Fund	PowerShares	PQY	2,804,770
PowerShares- Active Alpha Multi-Cap Fund	PowerShares	PQZ	2,750,230
PowerShares- Active Mega-Cap Portfolio	PowerShares	PMA	2,678,520
NETS S&P/ASX 200 Index Fund	NETS	AUS	2,674,000
CAC 40® Index Fund (France)	NETS	FRC	2,601,000
NETSTM Hang Seng Index Fund (Hong Kong)	NETS	HKG	2,597,000
NETS FTSE 100 Index Fund	NETS	LDN	2,575,000
NETS FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index Fund	NETS	JNB	2,531,000
NETS S&P/MIB Index Fund	NETS	ITL	2,490,000
PowerShares- Active Low Duration Portfolio	PowerShares	PLK	2,488,640
NETS FTSE Singapore Straits Times Index Fund	NETS	SGT	2,466,000
Source: American Stock Exchange

Company-By-Company Basis

Another interesting way to look at this data is to sort things by company. So far this year, WisdomTree's new ETFs have attracted the most assets ($317 million), which explains some of that company's success in boosting total assets under management from $4 billion to $5 billion.

Van Eck takes a strong second place with $283 million, followed by PowerShares at $168 million, Claymore at $148 million and SSgA at $143 million.

Here's the full table, sorted by assets.

ETFs Launched Since January 1, 2008
Company	Funds	Assets ($)
WisdomTree	5	317,028,000
Van Eck	5	282,977,500
PowerShares	7	168,092,560
Claymore	5	148,638,200
SSgA	5	143,257,000
BGI	3	82,341,000
ProShares	4	58,158,750
Bear Stearns	1	50,215,000
Northern Trust	9	39,228,000
GreenHaven	1	32,167,000
RevenueShares	3	31,569,488
Victoria Bay	2	29,394,000
ALPS	1	5,008,200
Source: American Stock Exchange

Tomorrow, I'll look at fund flows and asset growth by fund family for all ETFs.