The Markets December 8, 2010

ETFs Advance Slightly to $931B

Exchange-traded fund assets reached $931 billion in November, according to data from State Street Global Advisors (SSgA).
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According to SSgA’s November report, ETF assets were up $6.5 billion over the month, or 0.7%, following an identical showing of a 0.7% rise in asset levels the month before.

The SSgA November data showed small-cap and mid-cap assets advanced $2.9 billion and $2.1 billion, respectively, while large-cap fell nearly $3 billion.  Growth outperformed value across each size segment.

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The top three managers in the U.S. ETF marketplace were BlackRock, State Street, and the Vanguard Group. Collectively, they accounted for approximately 83.7% of the U.S. listed ETF market.

The data showed that the top three ETFs in dollar-volume traded for the month were the SPDR S&P 500 [SPY], PowerShares QQQ [QQQQ], and iShares Russell 2000 [IWM].  The top three ETFs in terms of assets for the month were the SPDR S&P 500 [SPY], SPDR Gold Shares [GLD], and iShares MSCI Emerging Markets [EEM].

State Street said sector returns were mixed, however. Health care is the only sector with negative YTD performance.

In terms of asset classes, SSgA said the S&P 500 Index was relatively unchanged this month, rising 0.1% while the MSCI EAFE Index dropped back 4.8%. U.S. Bonds fell, with the Barclays U.S. Treasury Index falling 0.7% and the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index dropping 0.6%. Gold rose 2.7% to $1,383.50 per ounce.

Losses in the International and Fixed Income categories were offset by gains in Commodity, Sector, Size, and Style. Currency remains the only category with negative AUM growth YTD.

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