Despite a month in which we officially entered a bull market, exchange traded funds (ETFs) continue to sprout up.
According to Simon Maierhofer for ETFGuide, the number of ETF and exchange traded note (ETN) launches is now at an average of 30 per month.
At the end of June, the total number of ETFs stood at 716, while there are nearly 80 ETNs. Factor in the fact that there are more than 450 ETFs and ETNs in registration, and we could be topping the 1,000 mark by the middle of 2009.
In June, 32 new exchange traded products were launched. One of the most notable is the long-awaited carbon credits ETN, the iPath Global Carbon (GRN), which tracks the price of emission credits.
Vanguard launched its first ETF since December 2007, going global with the Vanguard Total World Stock (VT), which goes up against the iShares MSCI ACWI Index Fund (ACWI).