ETF assets rose $17 billion in May

Exchange traded fund assets increased $17 billion last month, bringing total assets at the end of the month to $612 billion, according to a report released today by State Street Global Advisors of Boston. Twenty-three ETFs were launched during the month, bringing the total number of ETFs in existence as of May 31 to 683, according to the report. The top three ETFs in terms of dollar volume traded for the month were the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) from SSgA; the PowerShares QQQ (QQQQ) from Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC of Wheaton, Ill.; and the iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund (IWM) from Barclays Global Investors of San Francisco. The top three ETFs in terms of assets were the SPDR S&P 500, the iShares MSCI EAFE Fund (EFA) and the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM).