Products July 11, 2007

International ETFs Experience Strong Growth in June

Despite an overall drop in assets of U.S. exchange-traded fund (ETF) assets, international funds experienced strong growth during the month of June.

Reported by

Rebecca Moore

Assets of U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) dropped from $480 billion in May 2007 to approximately $478 billion in June, according to State Street Global Advisors’ (SSgA) ETF Snapshot.

However, international funds experienced strong growth, gaining $4 billion in assets for the month. Fixed income ETFs also had a strong showing, gaining $1 billion in assets for the month, SSgA data showed.

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The biggest losers were size-based ETFs, collectively losing $5 billion in June. Small caps were the biggest contributor to this number with a $2.1 billion loss, but all categories of size-based ETFs lost for the month.

Sector-based ETFs experienced net asset growth of $404 million for the month, with energy-based ETF assets growing by $1.1 billion. Meanwhile, REITs (real estate investment trusts) lost $647 million in total assets under management.

As of the end of June, the top ETF managers were Barclays Global Investors (BGI) with assets under management of $282 billion in 137 ETFs, followed by State Street with $102 billion across 59 ETFs. Vanguard placed third with $32 billion in 32 ETFs.

The top three U.S. ETFs in terms of dollar volume traded for the month were the SPDR S&P 500 (average daily volume $25 billion), the iShares Russell 2000 Index fund ($7 billion), and the Nasdaq-100 Index Tracking Stock ($6 billion).

As for returns, by sector, Energy, Information Technology, and Industrials were the top three performers, respectively returning 1.7%, 0.6%, and -0.1%, according to SSgA data. The Utilities sector performed the poorest in June, returning -5.3%.

Data & Research July 10, 2007

Yanks a Lot

For years, football’s Dallas Cowboys called themselves “America’s Team″, but baseball has long regarded itself as the nation’s national pastime.

Reported by

Nevin E. Adams

But who is America’s Team on the baseball diamond?

Well, don’t tell Red Sox fans, but a new online Harris Interactive poll claims that the New York Yankees are the nation’s favorite, at least among those who follow Major League Baseball. Moreover, they enjoy that status for the fifth year in a row.

The Boston Red Sox rated third, behind the Atlanta Braves, who moved up to the number two slot this year. Rounding out the top five are the St Louis Cardinals at No. 4 and the Chicago Cubs at No. 5.

Not surprisingly, team favorites do shift along with geographical differences. While the East is solidly behind the NY Yankees, in the Midwest the St. Louis Cardinals are the favorite. In the South the Braves fare best, and in the West, the Seattle Mariners, who come in at No. 8 overall (and whose Ichiro Suzuki hit a two-run, inside-the-park homer in the fifth inning in this week’s All-Star game, and went on to be named the game’s MVP), are the favorite.

There’s no real difference looking at age – most say the Yankees are their favorite team. However, the youngest generation, the so-called Echo Boomers (those aged 18-30) have claimed the St. Louis Cardinals (last year’s World Series champs) as their favorite.

On the other hand, politics may be exerting some red and blue influences. Apparently Democrats favor the Yankees, while Republicans lean toward the Braves (Independents lean toward the Yankees).

These are some of the results of a Harris Poll conducted online by Harris Interactiveª among a nationwide sample of 2,372 U.S. adults between June 5 and 11, 2007.

Harris notes that two teams have moved up eight or more places since 2006: the Texas Rangers move up 11 places (from a tie at No. 27 to a tie at No. 16), while the Milwaukee Brewers have jumped eight places from No. 18 to No. 10. Teams that have suffered the biggest falls include:

the Chicago White Sox (down 10 places from a tie at No. 11 last year to No. 21)
the Arizona Diamondbacks (dropped eight places from a tie at No. 14 to No. 22)
the Kansas City Royals (slipped seven places from a tie at No. 21 to No. 28)

This Harris Pollª was conducted online within the United States between June 5 and 11, 2007 among 2,372 adults, of whom 874 follow baseball.

“What is your favorite Major League Baseball team?” Base: U.S. Adults Who Follow Major League Baseball

	Rank *Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.*  1999	Rank 2003	Rank 2004	Rank 2005	Rank 2006	Rank 2007
New York Yankees	2	1	1	1	1	1
Atlanta Braves	1	2	3	2	3	2
Boston Red Sox	8	6	4	4	5	3
St. Louis Cardinals	4	14	13	6	6	4
Chicago Cubs	3	7	2	3	4	5
Detroit Tigers	10	15	5	=19	7	6
New York Mets	12	3	14	5	2	7
Seattle Mariners	6	11	=15	=13	10	8
Cincinnati Reds	13	10	=19	=8	=14	9
Milwaukee Brewers	21	23	23	24	18	10
Los Angeles Dodgers	7	8	=9	7	=14	11
Houston Astros	22	=20	=9	=17	9	12
Baltimore Orioles	9	=18	8	12	8	=13
Cleveland Indians	5	4	=9	=19	=11	=13
San Francisco Giants	26	9	7	=10	=14	=13
Pittsburgh Pirates	18	=18	=9	=8	=21	=16
Texas Rangers	15	13	=15	21	=27	=16
Philadelphia Phillies	16	12	6	=13	13	18
Oakland Athletics	19	=20	22	27	19	19
Minnesota Twins	11	5	=17	=13	=21	20
Chicago White Sox	20	27	27	=10	=11	21
Arizona Diamondbacks	NA	=16	=17	16	=14	22
Florida Marlins	25	=25	21	28	=27	=23
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim*	23	=16	=25	=17	20	=23
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	NA	28	28	=29	28	25
San Diego Padres	17	22	=25	25	=25	26
Colorado Rockies	14	24	24	26	=25	27
Kansas City Royals	24	=25	=19	=22	=21	28
Washington Nationals	NA	NA	NA	=22	24	29
Toronto Blue Jays**	28	29	29	=29	29	30
Montreal Expos	27	30	30	NA	NA	NA

*While the name may have changed, they kept the trend from previous years since it is the same team.

**It should be noted that the sample was limited to the United States. It is therefore no surprise that the Canadian team placed last on this list in a survey where no Canadian residents are surveyed.