ETFs See Modest January Advance

February 26, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Exchange-traded funds (ETF) assets were up modestly in January, according to the latest industry data.

Total January assets were $155.8 billion, up 3.2% ($4.34 billion) over December, (See  ETF Assets Add $18B For December)   according to data supplied by the Investment Company Institute (ICI).

In particular, increases were noted in global/international equity ETFs, which were up 17.7% to $16.4 billion in January. The Bond ETF index was up 10.3% to $5.14 billion in January.

Further, sector/industry ETFs enjoyed a modest push forward in January as assets gained 6.3% to $19.4 billion. Broad based ETFs only saw a comparatively minute January gain to $114.7 billion, up 0.6% from the month before. In total, domestic equity ETFs bumped up 1.4% to $134.2 billion.

Additionally, the value of ETF shares issued in January exceeded that of shares redeemed by $1.9 billion.  The total number of ETFs was 132, up from 119 in December.

Shares of exchange traded fund trade intraday on stock exchanges at market determined prices. Investors may buy or sell ETF shares through a broker just as they would the shares of any publicly traded company (See  Black Box: Exchange-Traded Funds ).

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