Emerging Global Advisors, the parent company of EGShares, the exchange traded funds issuer known for its lineup of funds devoted exclusively to emerging markets offerings, said Tuesday it will close two of its dividend ETFs.
EGShares will close the $1 million EGShares Emerging Markets Dividend Growth ETF (NYSEArca: EMDG) and the $3 million EGShares EM Dividend High Income ETF (NYSEArca: EMHD). EMDG debuted in July 2013 while EMHD came to market in August 2013.
EMHD, which features one of the largest allocations to Pakistan of any ETF, yields about 6%. EMDG tracks an index with a dividend yield of 3.64%. [Revisiting Emerging Markets Dividend ETFs]
“Collectively, these funds represent less than 1% of total assets under management. Trading on the NYSE Arca for the shares of these two Funds will be suspended prior to the open of business on Friday, December 26, 2014,” said EGShares in a statement.
The closures from EGShares are the third and fourth ETF closures announced this week. On Monday, Teucrium Trading said the Teucrium Natural Gas Fund (NYSEArca: NAGS) and Teucrium Crude Oil Fund ETF (NYSEArca: CRUD) will be shuttered after the close of business on December 18, 2014. [Two Energy ETFs to Close]
ETF closings are part of a healthy industry, reflecting providers’ responsiveness to investors’ needs. For instance, year-to-date, 189 new funds were launched while 67 ETFs were delisted, according to XTF data.
EGShare is also said the EGShares Low Volatility Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (NYSEArca: HILO) will transition to an in-house index, the EGAI Emerging Markets Quality Dividend Index, and will be renamed the EGShares EM Quality Dividend ETF. Those changes take effect on Jan. 26, 2015.
The $37 million HILO, which has a trailing 12-month yield of 4.5%, currently tracks the FTSE Emerging All Cap ex Taiwan Low Volatility Dividend Index. The ETF’s ticker will remain the same.
““We have learned a great deal about investor preferences for equity income and concluded that while higher yields were attractive, dividend quality and consistency are at least as important,” said Robert Holderith, president and founder of EGA, in the statement. “To that end, HILO’s new investment strategy seeks to do exactly that.”
HILO, which debuted nearly three and a half years ago, currently allocates a combined 37.3% of its weight to Thailand, Malaysia and China.
EGShares Low Volatility Emerging Markets Dividend ETF
ETF Trends editorial team contributed to this post.