Assets of ETFs Total over $1 Trillion

By Jeffrey Jackson

It's interesting to think that back in 1999 there were 33 exchange traded funds world wide with assets totaling $39.6 billion. By the end of 2009, assets topped off at $1.03 trillion, from 1,939 ETFs according to research from Black Rock. Most experts say it was due to the 45% increase in 2009, mainly due to the market's big rebound.

The market made huge gains in 2009 after the financial crisis of 2008 all while investors kept investing steadily into the ETF market. The S&P 500 made great strides recovering 23% in 2009 from it's drop of 38.5% in 2008. Making an even more convincing recovery was the Nasdaq rising 43.5% in 2009 from it 40.5% collapse in 2008. All indication show ETFs assets will reach $1.2 trillion by the end of 2010.

In Europe the number of ETFs grew from 6 to 815 during 2000 to 2009. In the U.S. by the end of 2009 the number of ETFs reached 772. Domestic ETF assets grew dramatically between 1999 and 2009 from $33 billion to over $705 billion.

According to the Wall Street Journal ETF assets could pass that of hedge funds. ETFs have grown faster because investors can gain such quick access to liquidity. Hedge fund assets hit $1.53 billion by the third quarter of 2009 according to Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research of Chicago.

Assets of ETFs cruised past assets of separately managed accounts by the third quarter of 2009 when separately managed accounts were at $527 billion, according to Cerulli Associates. Another source of rapidly growing funds are commodity funds. Separately manages funds grew by only $100 million in 2002 and grew by $22.2 billion in 2009.

In 2008 when the market condition weakened, investors began looking for other investment options and found ETFs to be among the best. As investors searched out alternative investments they found ETFs offered less risk, more price transparency, liquidity, better product structure, holdings transparency and less cost issues. ETFs have become among the most attractive of investment options. - 31970

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