A Stroll Through the 2020 ETF Graveyard

Slideshow October 30, 2020 at 05:16 PM
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This Halloween weekend, we remember the 212 exchange-traded products that have closed this year — more ETP deaths than in any other year. Roughly one-quarter were exchange-traded notes (ETNs), a type of unsecured debt securities that track an underlying index and trade on a major exchange like a stock or ETF. Most closed because of lack of demand or because of overlap of products following an acquisition, such as Invesco's acquisition of OppenheimerFunds. But TVIX, VelocityShares' leveraged (2x) Short-Term VIX ETN, had about $1.5 billion in assets and was in high demand when Credit Suisse announced its closure along with several other ETNs, citing the need "to better align its product suite with its broader strategic growth plans." The decision was surprising but understandable, according to Todd Rosenbluth, head of ETF and mutual fund research at CFRA. "ETNs are niche and banks are less interested in offering than in the past," he said. Check out the gallery above to remember some of the recently departed ETFs. --- Related on ThinkAdvisor: