ETFs fall prey to market turbulence

The size of the exchange traded fund market shrunk by $12.9 billion in February, falling to $557 billion in assets, according to the State Street ETF Snapshot. In a sign that the exchange traded fund industry is slowing, 11 ETFs were liquidated, while another 10 were added to the market, bringing the total number of ETFs to 633. Compared with January ETF assets, the size of inverse/leveraged increased 36.5%, while assets in commodity ETFs grew 12.7%. Assets in size ETFs fell by 13.2%, will assets in style ETFs lost 3.4%. On a sector basis, assets in financial and utilities ETFs fell 11.5% and 12.8%, respectively. Consumer discretionary assets posted the greatest growth, with assets increasing 21.9% during the month. Barclays Global Investors of San Francisco has the largest grasp on the ETF market, with 154 funds and a 54.8% market share. State Street Global Investors of Boston and the Vanguard Group of Malvern, Pa. rounded out the list with 23.2% and 7.7% of the market, respectively.