ETFs Dip in July

August 23, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Total assets of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) dipped ever so slightly in July to $88.27billion, according to data from the Investment Company Institute (ICI).

This followed a weak June with significant asset decreases.  Assets of domestic ETFs decreased by $3.29 billion in July to $78.5 billion, while assets of international ETFs dropped slightly to $6.66 billion from its $7.25 billion in June.

Broad-based ETF offerings declined 4.2% during the month, but domestic sector/industry ETFs became the only category in positive territory with a small hike to $8.26 billion for July.Gross issuance of ETFs shot up 11.7% to $9.19 billion in July while gross redemptions plummeted to $2.04 billion.

On a net/net basis, the value of shares issued exceeded that of shares redeemed by $7.14 billion in July.Sixty-eight ETFs tracked domestic stock indexes in July and held assets of $78.6 billion.

Among the domestic ETFs, 35 used broad-based indexes and 33 ETFs targeted sector or industry indexes.Statistics contained in the Institute’s monthly ETF report have been obtained from information provided to ICI by exchange-traded funds.

Trust-issued receipts, such as Holding Company Depository Receipts (HOLDRS), are not included in the report because registered investment companies do not issue them.  An ETF is similar to a mutual fund, but trades like a single stock. Like a mutual fund, an ETF is a basket of stocks, most typically reflecting a particular index, specific market or geographic sectors.