The exchange traded fund universe has quickly grown as investors look to the efficient, cheap and easy-to-use investment vehicle to gain exposure to various market segments and to diversify their portfolios.
As of the end of the first quarter, there were 1,997 U.S.-listed ETFs with $2.8 trillion in assets under management, according to a NYSE Arca note.
The NYSE Arca remains the largest exchange in both exchange traded product volume and listings, with nearly 92% of all U.S. ETF assets under management listed on the NYSE Arca. The NYSE enjoyed the highest market share, tightest spreads, greatest assets under management and majority of daily trading volume compared to any other exchange.
The NYSE holds a 22.0% market share of exchange volume for all U.S. ETFs, followed by Nasdaq 9.9%, EDGX 6.9%, BATS 6.9%, BYX 5.2%, EDGA 2.8%, BX 2.4%, PSX 1.6% and IEX 1.5%.
ETFs traded on the NYSE also experienced the narrowest quoted bid-ask spread for all U.S. ETFs at 61.4 basis points, compared to Nasdaq 116.4 bps, BX 163.5 bps and Bats 167.7 bps.
Given the coverage of ETFs found within the NYSE Arca, many market observers and traders have closely followed any new developments in the investment and financial industry, especially with new regulatory changes that could affect the way their ETF investments are traded on the NYSE Arca.
As of March 7, 2017, the NYSE received approval to modify its generic listings standards for listing passively managed ETFs, which has widespread effects since the majority of ETFs are listed according to this rule. Historically, the underlying benchmarks only needed to be reviewed once upon initial listing, but with the new “continued listing rule,” the same initial requirements will be applied on an ongoing basis.
“This means that all the underlying benchmarks of passively managed ETFs are required to adhere to the liquidity and diversification measurements at all times,” according to NYSE Arca.
The NYSE Arca also recently added an ETF Liquidity Provider Program to improve market quality in new and less actively traded ETFs, notably those with less than 250,000 shares ADV, which should help develop deeper pools of liquidity for all ETFs traded.
For more information on the ETF industry, visit our ETF performance reports category.