Investing September 29, 2003

ICI: ETF Assets Increase to $117.38 in August

September 29, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Assets in exchange-traded funds (ETF) rose slightly in August to $117.38 from $117.06 billion the previous month.
Reported by

Increases were noted in the sector/industry ETFs, which went up to $15.18 billion in August from $14.61 billion in July.(See  ETF Assets Fall To $117.06 Billion in July ).   However, other components in the total domestic equity index dragged the index down to $104.55 billion from $104.89 billion the month before, according to data supplied by the Investment Company Institute (ICI).

Results among the other indices fared better.   The Global/International Equity Index saw a net inflow of assets, ending August at $8.50 billion from $7.89 billion in July.  Likewise, the Bond ETF index recorded a net asset inflow, closing August at $4.32 billion from $4.28 billion in the previous month.

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Additionally, the value of ETF shares redeemed in August exceeded that of shares issued by $3 billion.  The total number of ETFs remained steady at 114. 

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  Exchange-Traded Funds ).

Products September 26, 2003

Barclays Releases New Bond ETF

September 26, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Barclays Global Investors has announced the launch of its iShares US Aggregate Bond exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Reported by

The new ETF, Barclay’s fifth fixed-income ETF, is designed to track the Lehman Aggregate Bond Index.    It will trade on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol AGG, according to a news release.

The latest release follows the approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the new fund and the iShares Lehman US Treasury Inflation Protected Securities in August (See  Creation of Bond ETFs Gets Green Light ).   These will be added to the current Barclay’s fixed-income ETF lineup that debuted in July 2002 (See  Bond ETFs Debut ).

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Fixed Income iShares are portfolios of bonds that can be bought and sold throughout the trading day like shares of stock, at prices determined by the market. Like traditional open-ended mutual funds, these bond-based ETFs allow investors to purchase a basket of bonds with one simple transaction.

In addition, whereas mutual funds are required to disclose their holdings semi-annually, iShares holdings are available daily.

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