ETF Assets Grow by $49 Billion in September

As of September 28, 2007, 560 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S., managed by 17 ETF managers, had assets totaling approximately $554 billion, according to State Street’s ETF Snapshot.

Overall, U.S. industry assets increased significantly from approximately $505 billion in August 2007. Fifteen new ETFs were launched during the month of September.

International and size-based ETFs experienced considerable asset growth, gaining $18 billion and $17 billion, respectively. Large-cap ETF assets grew by over $13 billion in September. The SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) was the category leader, contributing over $9 billion in asset growth.

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Sector, style, specialty, and fixed income ETFs showed strong growth for the month, adding a combined $13 billion, the data showed. Led by large-caps, which gained $13 billion, all categories of size-based ETF assets grew in September, with the exception of micro-cap.

During the month, growth-based ETFs outpaced their value counterparts in asset growth. As a group, sector-based ETFs experienced asset growth of $3.9 billion for the month. Only financials-based sector ETFs lost assets in September.

Of the 17 managers, Barclays Global Investors (BGI) had the largest AUM with $311billion across 139 ETFs, followed by State Street with $133 billion across 60 ETFs.

The ETF Snapshot is here. http://statestreetspdrs.com/snapshots/chapters/view/54#section131

DoL Offers Online Tool to Calculate DFVCP Penalties

The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has released an interactive calculator to help employers and plan administrators who faltered on annual reporting requirements accurately compute penalties owed under the agency’s Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program (DFVCP).

The program encourages plan administrators to file already overdue annual reports required under Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

The DFVCP calculator will determine the amount of civil penalties owed by plugging in the type of plan, size of plan, and number of filings, the agency said.

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Delinquent filers can avoid potentially higher civil penalty assessments by satisfying the program’s requirements and voluntarily paying a reduced penalty amount.

The calculator can be accessed at http://askebsa.dol.gov/dfvc.

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