Tag Archives: countries

‘Ride An Elephant’ In 2016

By Carl Delfeld In the 19th century, there was a common expression used to describe the early intrepid explorers of the American West. They were said to be “seeing the elephant” – that is, they were seeing “all that could be seen.” On Wall Street today, brokers looking for 10-bagger stocks, and portfolio managers seeking big gains, are similarly said to be “hunting for elephants.” In the 21st century, the best chance of finding these elephants is by looking for them in emerging and frontier markets. These markets have growth that may be up to three times that of America and Europe, which is fueled by a young, vibrant consumer class, as well as some of the world’s most fascinating cultures, nature, and landmarks. One great New Year’s resolution for you would be to see the elephants with your own eyes this year. I can assure you that you’ll learn a lot, have great fun, and uncover some big opportunities that you would otherwise miss sitting in your living room. Investing With the Big Shots I’ve been fortunate enough to have on-the-ground experience in many of these markets, particularly in Asia and Latin America. Last year I teamed up with Global Frontiers, which organizes and leads institutional research trips in these dynamic markets. On these trips we meet with the insiders and heavy hitters that help shape a country’s power structure, stock market, and foreign policy. I’ve also developed friendships with a small circle of tycoons – sometimes referred to as “Taipans ” – a term which roughly translates to “big shots.” If you meet and spend any time with such tycoons, a light bulb could go off in your head. You’re better educated and have much better circumstances compared to most new tycoons. So what gives them their edge? Why do they see opportunities that elude the rest of us? The answer is, they think big and are very attentive to what’s happening on the ground in other countries and markets. They have great personal and professional networks that feed them valuable intelligence. Add a pinch of imagination, and a shot of courage, and you have a potential tycoon. If you wish to become a Taipan, I suggest you look beyond China and India in the coming year to a story that’s being completely missed by even the most sophisticated investors. Ten Southeast Asian nations will move ahead in 2016 as part of an ambitious, America-backed initiative to join their economies in a common market. The goal is to increase their common influence, form a counterweight to China, and boost prosperity for the region’s 622 million citizens. These countries share more than geography. They have a young tech-savvy population with a rising middle class and booming consumer markets. For example, Indonesian consumer spending has more than doubled in the last decade as it nears a $1 trillion economy. Singapore is already the world’s richest nation on a per capita basis. And Vietnam has the fastest-growing economy in the world and is projected to do even better this year. There are country ETFs for almost all of these countries, but for one-stop shopping, consider the Global X Southeast Asia ETF (NYSEARCA: ASEA ). This basket of 40 stocks was off 20% in 2015, giving you a nice value entry point. If Asia is too far and too exotic for your tastes, visit Latin America. The Brazilian market has suffered both major losses and a plummeting currency, so your U.S. dollar will go far whether you spend it or invest it in Brazil. I visited Panama last year and was astonished at the progress it’s made as a regional trade and financial center. Getting to see the project aimed at doubling the size of the Panama Canal made the trip worth-while. Other ideas? The energy-driven iShares MSCI Colombia Capped ETF (NYSEARCA: ICOL ) was down over 40% last year, while the iShares MSCI Mexico Capped ETF (NYSEARCA: EWW ) held up extremely well on a relative basis, even as Mexico becomes a favorite base for global manufacturing. Mexican wages are now actually below those in China. I encourage you to get going and see these opportunities for yourself. Then consider investing in a blend of these markets that are trading at bargain basement prices, and offer some of the best hedges on the U.S. dollar. This is your opportunity – now go out and seize it. Link to the original post on Wall Street Daily

Oil Hits 12-Year Low: Short Energy Stocks With ETFs

No doubt, last year’s chaos in the energy sector has spilled over into this year with many stocks piling up heavy losses in the first couple of weeks of 2016. In fact, the worries have deepened this year with renewed concerns over the slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy and the Iran sanctions’ lift off. This is especially true, as the relaxation in sanctions would add a fresh stock of oil in the global market, which is already facing a supply glut. Iran, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is expected to increase its crude oil exports by half a million barrels a day immediately and a million barrels a day within a year of lifting the ban. Though the Iran sanctions were widely expected and the development of oil in the country will take some time to fully ramp up after 40 years, the move unnerved investors, spreading panic among them. That being said, oil price tumbled to a level not seen in more than 12 years with U.S. crude plunging below $29 per barrel and Brent slumping to below $28 per barrel. From a year-to-date look, oil price has lost more than 20% this year, representing the worst two-week decline since the 2008 financial crisis (read: 4 Country ETFs to Gain from Oil Price Crash ). Trend Remains Weak Currently, the outlook for oil and energy sector seems gloomy. This is because oil production has risen worldwide with the OPEC continuing to pump near-record levels, and higher output from the likes of U.S., Iran and Libya. Additionally, a strengthening U.S. dollar backed by a rate hike is making dollar-denominated assets more expensive for foreign investors and thus dampening the appeal for oil. In particular, it will make the borrowings for high-yield firms costlier and result in less money flows into capital-intensive shale oil and gas drilling projects. This in turn will lead to higher bankruptcies, which would hit the already battered energy sector. On the other hand, demand for oil across the globe looks tepid given slower growth in most developed and developing economies. In particular, persistent weakness in the world’s biggest consumer of energy – China – will continue to weigh on the demand outlook. The negative demand/supply imbalance would push oil prices and the stocks further down at least in the short term. Moreover, the ultra-popular United States Oil Fund (NYSEARCA: USO ) , tracking the price of US light crude with an asset base of around $2.2 billion and average daily volume of around 32.3 million shares, has hit new all-time lows several times this year. Given the continued sell-off and the bearish outlook, the appeal for energy ETFs is dulling (read: Oil and Energy ETFs That Hit All-Time Lows ). As a result, investors who are bearish on oil right now may want to consider a near-term short on the energy sector. Fortunately, with ETFs, this is quite easy as there are many options to accomplish this task. Below we highlight them and state how each stands out among the rest: ProShares Short Oil & Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: DDG ) This fund provides unleveraged inverse (or opposite) exposure to the daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Index. The ETF makes a profit when the energy stocks decline and is suitable for hedging purposes against the fall of these stocks. The product has amassed $14.1 million in AUM while volume is light at under 10,000 shares. Expense ratio comes in at 0.95%. It has added nearly 10% so far this year. ProShares UltraShort Oil & Gas ETF (NYSEARCA: DUG ) This fund seeks two times (2x) leveraged inverse exposure to the Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Index, charging 95 bps in fees. It has amassed $46.1 million in its asset base and trades in good volume of more than 183,000 shares per day on average. DUG returned 19.8% in the first couple of weeks of 2016. Direxion Daily Energy Bear 3x Shares ETF (NYSEARCA: ERY ) This product provides three times (3x) inverse exposure to the Energy Select Sector Index. Though it charges the same annual fee of 95 bps, it is extremely popular and trades in heavy volume nearly 1.7 million shares. The fund has a decent AUM of $74 million and has gained 32% so far this year. Direxion Daily S&P Oil & Gas Exp. & Prod. Bear 3x Shares ETF (NYSEARCA: DRIP ) This ETF provides three times bearish exposure to the oil & gas exploration and production corner of the broad energy space tracking the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index. It has accumulated $6.1 million in its asset base while trades in a lower volume of 32,000 shares per day on average. The fund charges 95 bps in annual fees and has gained 62.9% since the start of the year. ProShares UltraShort Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSEARCA: SOP ) This fund seeks two times inverse exposure to the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index, charging 95 bps in fees. It failed to garner enough investor interest with AUM of just $4.6 million and sees a paltry volume of about 3,000 shares a day. SOP is up 40.6% in the year-to-date timeframe. Bottom Line As a caveat, investors should note that such products are suitable only for short-term traders as these are rebalanced on a daily basis. Still, for ETF investors who are bearish on the energy sector for the near term, either of the above products could make an interesting choice. Clearly, a near-term short could be intriguing for those with high-risk tolerance, and a belief that the “trend is the friend” in this corner of the investing world. Link to the original post on Zacks.com

ETF Stats For November 2015: Fund-Of-Funds Count At 76

Twenty-one launches and two closures brought the quantity of U.S.-listed exchange traded products to 1,824 (1,623 ETFs and 201 ETNs) at the end of November. Overall assets climbed 1.0% for the month to $2.14 trillion, with actively managed funds garnering a 1.7% increase. Trading activity plunged 20.7% to $1.3 trillion, as fewer products changed hands in the holiday-shortened month. Fund-of-funds products accounted for nine of November’s launches, and their quantity now stands at 76. As their name implies, these are ETFs that own other ETFs (and ETNs) instead of directly owning the underlying stocks and bonds. Assets in fund-of-funds ETFs surpassed $13 billion in November. However, these assets are not included in the overall industry asset statistics, because doing so would amount to double counting. It is important to take note of the growth in this category, though, as their quantity has jumped from 43 to 76 this year, and assets have surged 191%. Although you don’t hear too much about these products, their asset levels are on a path to overtake ETNs next year and actively managed ETFs in 2017. The popularity of currency hedging is one of the reasons for the recent rapid growth in the fund-of-funds segment. Eight of the nine new fund-of-funds ETFs launched in November are currency-hedged versions of existing products. Rather than buying and holding the 356 stocks of iShares MSCI All Country World Minimum Volatility ETF (NYSEARCA: ACWV ), the new iShares Currency Hedged MSCI ACWI Minimum Volatility ETF (BATS: HACV ) just buys ACWV along with a currency overlay to hedge the currency exposure. Every dollar invested in HACV results in a one-dollar increase in ACWV’s reported assets. Industry-wide assets in the U.S. are now at $2.14 trillion, and represent a 7.1% increase for the year. Splitting out the two major groupings, ETFs have seen a 7.4% increase in 2015, while ETNs have experienced a 16.5% decline. Actively managed ETFs have jumped 28.7%, and, as mentioned previously, the fund-of-funds segment has seen a whopping 191% surge. The quantity of funds with more than $10 billion in assets held steady at 52, and they represent 60% of U.S. industry assets. The quantity of products with at least $1 billion in assets slipped by one to 254, and they account for 89.7% of the assets. The average product has $1.2 billion in assets, yet the median asset level is just $70.2 million, making for a very lopsided market. Trading activity remains concentrated in relatively few ETFs. Only seven averaged more than $1 billion a day in activity, but these seven grabbed a 47.5% market share. The quantity of ETFs and ETNs with more than $100 million in average daily dollar volume decreased from 94 to 90, and accounted for 86.5% of the action. A whopping 266 products (14.6%) did not trade on the last day of November, and 21 went the entire month without a trade. November 2015 Month End ETFs ETNs Total Currently Listed U.S. 1,623 201 1,824 Listed as of 12/31/2014 1,451 211 1,662 New Introductions for Month 21 0 21 Delistings/Closures for Month 2 0 2 Net Change for Month +19 0 +19 New Introductions 6 Months 160 8 168 New Introductions YTD 249 12 261 Delistings/Closures YTD 77 22 99 Net Change YTD +172 -10 +162 Assets Under Mgmt ($ billion) $2,119 $22.5 $2,141 % Change in Assets for Month +1.1% -4.8% +1.0% % Change in Assets YTD +7.4% -16.5% +7.1% Qty AUM > $10 Billion 52 0 52 Qty AUM > $1 Billion 249 5 254 Qty AUM > $100 Million 784 34 818 % with AUM > $100 Million 48.3% 16.9% 44.9% Monthly $ Volume ($ billion) $1,287 $52.3 $1,339 % Change in Monthly $ Volume -20.6% -22.9% -20.7% Avg. Daily $ Volume > $1 Billion 6 1 7 Avg. Daily $ Volume > $100 Million 85 5 90 Avg. Daily $ Volume > $10 Million 302 11 313 Actively Managed ETF Count (w/ change) 135 +2 mth. +10 ytd Actively Managed AUM ($ billion) $22.2 +1.7% mth. +28.7% ytd Data sources: Daily prices and volume of individual ETPs from Norgate Premium Data. Fund counts and all other information compiled by Invest With An Edge. New products launched in November (sorted by launch date): The iShares Currency Hedged MSCI ACWI Minimum Volatility ETF ( HACV ), launched on 11/2/15, is a fund-of-funds designed to track the investment results of a global index composed of developed and emerging market equities that have relatively low volatility characteristics, while mitigating exposure to fluctuations between the value of the component currencies and the U.S. dollar. The ETF holds the unhedged iShares MSCI All Country World Minimum Volatility ETF ( ACWV ), and then adds forwards to manage the currency risk. Twenty-four countries or regions are represented, and most holdings are consumer staples, financials, and healthcare companies. Its expense ratio is 0.23%. The iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE Minimum Volatility ETF (BATS: HEFV ), launched on 11/2/15, is a fund-of-funds investing in equities of all capitalizations from Europe, Australia, Asia, and the Far East that display low volatility compared to other equities in the regions, while reducing the impact of changes between the value of the underlying currencies and the U.S. dollar. The ETF holds the unhedged iShares MSCI EAFE Minimum Volatility ETF (NYSEARCA: EFAV ), and manages the currency risk with forwards. Japan and the U.K. combine to hold over 50% of the allocations, and the majority of holdings come the from consumer staples, financials, and healthcare sectors. Investors will pay 0.23% annually to own this fund. The iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EM Minimum Volatility ETF (BATS: HEMV ), launched on 11/2/15, is a fund-of-funds aiming to track the investment results of a global index of emerging market equities that have relatively low volatility characteristics, while mitigating exposure to fluctuations between the value of the component currencies and the U.S. dollar. The ETF holds the unhedged iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Minimum Volatility ETF (NYSEARCA: EEMV ) and adds forwards to manage the currency risk. China, Taiwan, and South Korea each have over a 10% allocation, and the financials sector represents about 28% of the portfolio. The ETF has an expense ratio of 0.28%. The iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Europe Minimum Volatility ETF (BATS: HEUV ), launched on 11/2/15, is a fund-of-funds investing in large- or mid-capitalization companies in developed European countries that display low volatility compared to other European equities, while reducing the impact of changes between the value of the underlying currencies and the U.S. dollar. The ETF holds the unhedged iShares MSCI Europe Minimum Volatility ETF (NYSEARCA: EUMV ), and then adds currency forwards to offset value changes in the relevant currencies. The U.K. leads the geographic allocation at 35%, and the majority of holdings come from the consumer staples, financials, and healthcare sectors. The ETF sports a 0.28% expense ratio. The iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Europe Small-Cap ETF (BATS: HEUS ), launched on 11/2/15, is a fund-of-funds holding small-capitalization companies in developed European countries, while mitigating exposure to fluctuations between the value of the component currencies and the U.S. dollar. The ETF holds the unhedged iShares MSCI Europe Small-Cap ETF (NASDAQ: IEUS ), and then adds forwards to manage the currency risk. The largest country representation goes to the U.K. at 36%. Financials and industrials lead the sector allocations at around 23% each. The ETF has a 0.43% expense ratio. The BlueStar TA-BIGTech Israel Technology ETF (NASDAQ: ITEQ ), launched on 11/3/15, provides exposure to Israeli technology companies listed on global stock exchanges. The companies are not required to be domiciled in Israel to be included, but they must have significant ties to the country, such as a domicile, a strong presence of research, development, primary management, tax status, source of revenue, or location of employees. The companies represent a wide range of technological areas, including information, biotechnology, sustainable agriculture, and defense technologies. The ETF holds 65 positions, with just three representing 30% of the fund. Investors will pay 0.75% annually to own this ETF. The First Trust SSI Strategic Convertible Securities ETF (NASDAQ: FCVT ), launched on 11/4/15, is an actively managed ETF investing in global convertible securities. Convertible securities are considered hybrid securities because they offer upside potential through participation in equity returns, but also have a degree of downside protection through their bond-like attributes. They usually consist of debt or preferred securities that may be exchanged into a certain amount stock or other equity security. No yield information is provided. FCVT’s expense ratio is 0.95%. The PowerShares FTSE International Low Beta Equal Weight Portfolio (NASDAQ: IDLB ), launched on 11/5/15, provides investors with exposure to large- and mid-capitalization companies from developed markets (except the U.S.) that show less price sensitivity (low beta) compared to the overall market of the country in which the company is based. IDLB currently has 783 holdings, which are equally weighted upon rebalancing. The ETF sports a 0.45% expense ratio. The PowerShares Russell 1000 Low Beta Equal Weight Portfolio (NASDAQ: USLB ), launched on 11/5/15, selects its holdings by starting with the 1,000 U.S. companies that have the largest market capitalizations and then analyzing their price sensitivity. Those that show less price sensitivity (low beta) to market movements are eligible for inclusion. Currently, there are 418 equally weighted holdings, and the fund’s expense ratio is 0.35%. The AlphaClone International ETF (NYSEARCA: ALFI ), launched on 11/10/15, aims to provide value to investors by evaluating the performance of large hedge funds and institutional investors and purchasing select international companies via American Depository Receipts (ADRs) held by those entities. The strategy of the underlying index is to rank each manager’s performance by calculating the return of their publicly disclosed positions, such as from the Form 13F filings, and then select the 40-50 ADRs held by those with the highest rankings. The ETF can vary between being long-only and market-hedged based on a 200-day simple moving average of the S&P 500 Index. Investors will pay 0.95% annually to own this ETF. The FlexShares Currency Hedged Morningstar DM ex-US Factor Tilt Index Fund (NYSEARCA: TLDH ), launched on 11/10/15, is a fund-of-funds designed to provide broad exposure to developed equity markets outside the U.S. with enhanced weightings to small capitalization and value stocks, while mitigating the effects of currency fluctuations. The ETF holds the FlexShares Morningstar Developed Markets ex-US Factor Tilt Index Fund (NYSEARCA: TLTD ), and then uses forward contracts to hedge the currency exposure. The expense ratio will be capped at 0.47% until November 4, 2016. The FlexShares Currency Hedged Morningstar EM Factor Tilt Index Fund (NYSEARCA: TLEH ), launched on 11/10/15, is a fund-of-funds focusing on emerging markets, but adjusts standard market-cap weighting to provide additional weights to small-capitalization and value stocks. It then hedges against changes in value between the U.S. dollar and constituent currencies. Its main holding is the FlexShares Morningstar Emerging Markets Factor Tilt Index Fund (NYSEARCA: TLTE ), and the currency exposure is mitigated using forward contracts. The expense ratio will be capped at 0.70% until November 4, 2016. The Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta International Equity ETF (NYSEARCA: GSIE ), launched on 11/10/15, uses an index-based strategy that gives all constituents in the MSCI World ex-USA Index a score based on measures of value, momentum, quality, and low volatility. Security scores higher than a fixed “cut-off score” are overweighted, while securities with a score below are underweighted. The expense ratio will be capped at 0.35% until September 14, 2016. The First Trust Heitman Global Prime Real Estate ETF (NYSEARCA: PRME ), launched on 11/12/15, is an actively managed ETF investing globally in shares of public real estate companies that own top-tier properties in the world’s prime markets and cities. “Prime” is defined by the managers as those “that benefit from global physical and/or financial trade, have high barriers to entry, dominate their regions or countries, or provide high-value niche goods and services.” The U.S. has the largest geographic allocation at 31%, and Japan comes in second at 14%. PRME has an expense ratio of 0.95%. The iShares Core International Aggregate Bond Fund (NYSEARCA: IAGG ), launched on 11/12/15, selects global non-U.S. dollar denominated, investment-grade bonds and then uses currency forward contracts to hedge against fluctuations in the relative value of the component currencies to the U.S. dollar. There are currently 534 holdings in 55 countries. The ETF sports a 0.15% expense ratio. The WisdomTree Global SmallCap Dividend Fund (BATS: GSD ), launched on 11/12/15, provides exposure to small-capitalization companies in developed countries and emerging markets that pay dividends. The underlying index selects the largest 1,000 companies in the bottom 5% of the WisdomTree Global Dividend Index that have a market capitalization of at least $200 million and average daily dollar volume of at least $100,000. Holdings are weighted based on dividends. The expense ratio is 0.43%. The Etho Climate Leadership U.S. ETF (NYSEARCA: ETHO ), launched on 11/19/15, invests in a broad range of U.S. companies that display the smallest carbon footprints in their respective industries. The strategy takes into account items such as greenhouse gas emissions from operations, fuel use, supply chain, and performance on environmental issues. It holds about 400 securities, but none in the energy, tobacco, aerospace and defense, gambling, gold, or silver industries. Investors will pay 0.75% annually to own this ETF. The WisdomTree Global Hedged SmallCap Dividend Fund (BATS: HGSD ), launched on 11/19/15, is a fund-of-funds providing exposure to 1,000 dividend-paying, small-capitalization companies in the bottom 5% of the WisdomTree Global Dividend Index, while hedging against currency risk. The ETF holds WisdomTree Global SmallCap Dividend Fund ( GSD ) and then uses forward contracts to mitigate the effects of changes in the relative value of foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar. The expense ratio will be capped at 0.43% until July 31, 2018. The Deutsche X-trackers FTSE Developed ex US Enhanced Beta ETF (NYSE: DEEF ), launched on 11/24/15, selects securities in developed countries outside the U.S. based on five investment factors. The factors are valuation ratios (value), 11-month cumulative return (momentum), leverage and profitability (quality), standard deviation of returns (volatility), and market capitalization (size). There are currently 828 holdings, with 31.8% in Japan and 20% each in financials and industrials. DEEF has an expense ratio of 0.35%. The Deutsche X-trackers Russell 1000 Enhanced Beta ETF (NYSE: DEUS ), launched on 11/24/15, selects a diversified group of US securities based on quality, value, momentum, low volatility, and size factors. The underlying index currently holds nearly 850 companies that were chosen based on these factors. The expense ratio is 0.25%. The FlexShares Real Assets Allocation Index Fund (NASDAQ: ASET ), launched on 11/24/15, is a fund-of-funds offering access to physical or tangible assets (examples of which are commodities, precious metals, oil, and real estate) by investing in three other FlexShares ETFs. The underlying ETFs and current allocations are the FlexShares STOXX Global Broad Infrastructure Index ETF (NYSEARCA: NFRA ) 49.8%, the FlexShares Global Quality Real Estate Index ETF (NYSEARCA: GQRE ) 40.5%, and the FlexShares Global Upstream Natural Resources Index ETF (NYSEARCA: GUNR ) 9.8%. The expense ratio will be capped at 0.57% until November 8, 2016. Product closures in November and last day of listing: EGShares Blue Chip ETF (NYSEARCA: BCHP ) – 10/30/2015 EGShares Brazil Infrastructure ETF (NYSEARCA: BRXX ) – 10/30/2015 Note: These two ETFs had their last day of listed trading on October 30. However, since they were still officially listed at the end of that month, their assets are included in the October statistics and their closures are included in the November statistics. Product changes in November: The AdvisorShares Sunrise Global Multi-Strategy ETF (NASDAQ: MULT ) underwent an extreme makeover on November 4, becoming the AdvisorShares Market Adaptive Unconstrained Income ETF (MAUI), with a new manager and subadvisor. The ProShares 3x Leveraged and 3x Inverse Financial Sector ETFs ( FINU and FINZ ) changed their underlying indexes to S&P Select Sector Indexes effective November 4. ProShares executed forward splits on two ETFs ( BZQ and ZSL ) and reverse splits on five ETFs ( GDXX , GDJJ , UOP , UBR , and UBIO ) effective November 13 . Global X had reverse splits on five ETFs ( COPX , GLDX , LIT , SIL , and URA ) effective November 18. The SPDR Barclays Aggregate Bond ETF changed its ticker symbol from LAG to BNDS effective November 20. Announced product changes for coming months: Van Eck Global plans to acquire Yorkville MLP ETFs and hopes to close the transaction in the fourth quarter, but it’s running out of time. Both ETFs ( YMLP and YMLI ) have lost more than 35% of their value since the August 3 announcement. The Guggenheim BulletShares 2015 Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA: BSCF ) and the Guggenheim BulletShares 2015 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA: BSJF ) are scheduled to mature and liquidate on December 31 , with December 30 being the last day of trading. The Guggenheim Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF (NYSEARCA: EWRI ) will cease to exist on January 27, 2016. At that time, any remaining assets in the fund will be merged into the Guggenheim S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (NYSEARCA: RSP ). Guggenheim will change the name and underlying indexes for three of its ETFs effective January 27, 2016. The Guggenheim Russell 2000 Equal Weight ETF (NYSEARCA: EWRS ) will become the Guggenheim S&P SmallCap 600 Equal Weight ETF (EWSC), the Guggenheim Russell MidCap Equal Weight ETF (NYSEARCA: EWRM ) will become the Guggenheim S&P MidCap 400 Equal Weight ETF (EWMC), and the Guggenheim Russell Top 50 Mega Cap ETF (NYSEARCA: XLG ) will become the Guggenheim S&P 500 Top 50 ETF ( XLG ). Previous monthly ETF statistics reports are available here . Disclosure: Author has no positions in any of the securities, companies, or ETF sponsors mentioned. No income, revenue, or other compensation (either directly or indirectly) is received from, or on behalf of, any of the companies or ETF sponsors mentioned.