Etf Planet's  Instablog

Today, ETFPlanet has released its complete list of Exchange Traded Funds for the first quarter ending March 31, 2009.   During the first quarter ETF and ETN assets totaled approximately $475 billion, down from the $541 billion at year end 2008, representing a 12% drop in assets. The number of issues also decreased from 845, to 839 during the same period. Listed below are the ten largest ETFs by net assets, and the change since December 31, 2008. By analyzing the change in asset value, and performance of the fund over the quarter, you can start to see where investors’ money is flowing. According to our data money was flowing into fixed income during the first quarter, as assets in iShares iBoxx Corporate Bond (LQD) and iShares TIPS Bond (TIP) both increased over 30%, while their performance was -6.4% and 3.5%, respectively. Assets in the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) increased over 10%, while the fund’s return was -0.6%.

One of the more exciting developments in the ETF community has been the increasing popularity of the Direxion 3x funds, which have grown to over $3 billion under management since their funds’ inceptions beginning in November 2008, and up from $1 billion at the end of 2008. The biggest gainer in assets was the Financial Bull 3x (FAS), which gained over $1 billion in assets during the quarter.  

The Excel file which contains all 839 funds and is available for download on etfplanet.com for personal use. All data contained in the file is from Morningstar, and will be updated quarterly going forward.

disclosure: no position