Russell to Shutter All Index ETFs
August 20th 2012 at 9:23am by John Spence
Russell Investments plans to close all 25 of its passively-managed exchange traded funds but will keep one active ETF open.
The 25 ETFs being terminated had about $310 million in assets, collectively, at the end of July, Russell said in a press release.
Russell Equity ETF (NYSEArca: ONEF), an actively managed ETF with $4.2 million in assets, will continue to operate, the firm said. [Competition and Consolidation in the ETF Business]
The 25 passive ETFs will be liquidated on or before Oct. 24. [My ETF is Shutting Down — Now What?]
“Regarding the closures, while the innovation behind these new, next-generation ETF products received substantial interest in general, the market for them is still in its early days. Given challenging equity market conditions since the launch of these products, Russell determined that proposing the liquidation of the passively-managed ETFs at this time is in the best interests of the ETFs and their shareholders,” the company said in the press release.
Earlier this month, Russell said it was conducting a strategic review of its U.S. ETF business and eliminating some jobs in the unit. [Russell Reviewing ETF Unit, Cutting Jobs]
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