ETF launch slowdown continues as December sees slowest month

This report aggregatesnewlylaunchedfunds in December and highlights the performance of the fundslaunched in November.

• 21 funds were launched in December, 11 fewer than the second slowest month of 2014
• 15 funds were launched in the Americas, six in the APAC region and zero were added in Europe
• 18 Equity funds were added along with two fixed income and one alternative ETF

December new listings

After a slow November, December followed with the fewest number of launches for the year. The 21 funds launched trailed the previous years' December launches total of 34.

While December was slow for fund lunches, the month saw three new fund issuers join the ETP fray with their first product launch. BioShares, Reality SharesandValidea Funds all entered the ETF space with single US listed strategy products that respectively track biotech, dividend growth and "guru strategies".

The market is starting to see a growth in single fund issuers, largely due to the emergence of groups such as Exchange Traded Concepts that provide services for smaller issuers to launch funds under their own names.

This is a trend that should continue as the SEC begins to allow a framework for non-transparent actively managed ETFs. Expect to see an influx of small shop issuers adding single funds to the market while protecting their investment strategies.

November flows

Funds launched in November have gained $773m since their inception. November had the third fewest ETF launches in 2014.

US Listed ETFs gained the lion's share of the assets, growing $311m in the short time period since their inception. PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF (HACK) gained $105m since inception, launching at an ideal time amid the Sony hacks and other cyber security news events.

In Europe, funds launched in November have gained $246m as of the end of 2014. This was largely due to the $190m earned by Amundi JPX-NIKKEI 400 UCITS ETF (JPNK) which trades on the Euronext Paris exchange.

APAC funds added in November were able to gain $215m since their inception. NEXT NOTES S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Net Total Return Index ETN (2044) provided $131m in asset flows.

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This article was published by S&P Global Market Intelligence and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.