ETF Assets Down 2.7% in August

Declines in size categories accounted for the majority of the total equity AUM drop, SSgA said. Large Cap assets fell $15.4 billion, followed by Small Cap, down $3.6 billion. All size and style categories declined in assets.

Meanwhile, the Fixed Income and Commodity categories rose $3.9 billion and $3.4 billion, respectively.  Year-to-date, areas with significant positive asset growth are commodities: up $11 billion, fixed income: up $31.1 billion, and dividend/fundamental: up $4.4 billion. Eight of ten sectors fell for the month with financials losing the most, down $1.2 billion. Utilities and materials were up slightly in absolute terms.

The top three managers in the U.S. ETF marketplace were: BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard, collectively snapping up approximately 84.3% of the U.S.-listed ETF market.

The top three ETFs in terms of dollar volume traded for the month were the SPDR S&P 500 [SPY], iShares Russell 2000 [IWM] and PowerShares QQQ [QQQQ]. 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].