Guggenheim Investments will liquidate nine exchange-traded funds that have not attracted enough assets, the firm announced today.
Guggenheim Investments, the investment management division of Guggenheim Partners, said the company wants to focus on ETFs that are in more demand. The average size of each ETF it is closing is $16 million, for a total of $144 million, or roughly 1 percent of the firms $13.7 billion in ETF assets as of January 31. The firm will still rank as the eighth-largest ETF provider after the liquidations.
The last day of trading is expected to be March 15 for these nine ETFs that Guggenheim plans to liquidate:
• Guggenheim ABC High Dividend ETF3, (ABCS)
• Guggenheim MSCI EAFE Equal Weight ETF2 (EWEF)
• Guggenheim S&P MidCap 400(R) Equal Weight ETF2 (EWMD)
• Guggenheim S&P SmallCap 600(R) Equal Weight ETF2 (EWSM)
• Guggenheim Airline ETF3 (FAA)
• Guggenheim 2x S&P 500(R) ETF2 (RSU)
• Guggenheim Inverse 2x S&P 500(R) ETF2 (RSW)
• Wilshire 5000 Total Market ETF3 (WFVK)
• Wilshire 4500 Completion ETF3 (WXSP)
"Guggenheim remains committed to the ETF business, and this evolution is a natural and necessary part of the process to ensure we are meeting our clients' needs," said William Belden, managing director and head of product development. "We are dedicated to providing high-quality investment solutions for our clients, and our product development pipeline is positioned well to deliver unique ETF products," he continued. "Since January 1, 2012, through February 1, 2013, our equity and fixed-income ETF assets have increased $4.12 billion or 55 percent."
The nine ETFs will be delisted from NYSE Arca prior to the start of trading on Monday, March 18. Between the delisting date and the liquidation date, the affected funds will liquidate portfolio assets. Shareholders remaining in the affected ETFs as of close of business Thursday, March 21, will have their shares liquidated as of that date's closing net asset value. The liquidation proceeds will be distributed on or about Friday, March 22.