Invesco PowerShares to close 19 small ETFs

Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC said today that it plans to close 19 exchange traded funds on May 18. The funds had $122 million in assets as of March 31. The PowerShares product line currently includes 135 ETFs with assets of $25.8 billion as of March 31. “After carefully evaluating numerous factors including shareholder considerations, length of time on the market, asset levels and the potential for future growth, we proposed closing certain portfolios that have not gained sufficient acceptance with investors,” Bruce Bond, president and chief executive of Invesco PowerShares of Wheaton, Ill., said in a statement. “We remain fully committed to the ETF industry and expect to offer new, exciting products in the months ahead.” Early this month, the ETFs will begin the process of closing down and liquidating their portfolios. The process will cause each ETF's holdings to deviate from the securities included in its underlying index and each ETF to increase its cash holdings, which may lead to increased tracking error. The ETFs that are closing are the PowerShares Dynamic Aggressive Growth Portfolio (PGZ), the PowerShares Dynamic Asia Pacific Portfolio (PUA), the PowerShares Dynamic Deep Value Portfolio (PVM), the PowerShares Dynamic Europe Portfolio (PEH), the PowerShares Dynamic Hardware & Consumer Electronics Portfolio (PHW), the PowerShares FTSE RAFI Asia Pacific ex-Japan Small-Mid Portfolio (PDQ), the PowerShares FTSE RAFI Basic Materials Sector Portfolio (PRFM), the PowerShares FTSE RAFI Consumer Goods Sector Portfolio (PRFG), the PowerShares FTSE RAFI Consumer Services Sector Portfolio (PRFS), the PowerShares FTSE RAFI Energy Sector Portfolio (PRFE), the PowerShares FTSE RAFI Europe Small-Mid Portfolio (PWD), the PowerShares FTSE RAFI Financials Sector Portfolio (PRFF), the PowerShares FTSE RAFI Health Care Sector Portfolio (PRFH), the PowerShares FTSE RAFI Industrials Sector Portfolio (PRFN), the PowerShares FTSE RAFI International Real Estate Portfolio (PRY), the PowerShares FTSE RAFI Telecommunications & Technology Sector Portfolio (PRFQ), the PowerShares FTSE RAFI Utilities Sector Portfolio (PRFU), the PowerShares High Growth Rate Dividend Achievers Portfolio (PHJ) and the PowerShares International Listed Private Equity Portfolio (PFP).