Claymore Securities announced on Friday that they are liquidating 11 of their least popular exchange traded funds (ETFs), making this the biggest fund closing in history.

The last trading day for the funds is set for Feb. 19. On Feb. 28, recorded shareholders will receive cash payments for the full value of the ETFs. Capital gains or losses will be handed out, as well.

Christian Magoon, the head of Claymore’s ETF group, simply feels that the marketplace has spoken and this is similar to natural selection.

Will this be a continuing trend for future similar fund closings? What will this ultimately mean for the industry? Jim Wiandt for Seeking Alpha explains that the closings are something mutual funds have been doing for many years already. But overall, he feels that closings aren’t an ideal thing and it’s not a good idea for the ETF industry to get the reputation of throwing anything out there, fingers crossed.

While this is certainly not pleasing information to investors who are part of these ETFs, this is not unusual nor is it to be unexpected as the industry grows. As commenter Peter said in our post, corporate responsibility is a good concept and it creates trust and goodwill with customers.