ETF launches cooled off in 2022 after three years of gains
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As the investment community grappled with a down year on Wall Street, launches of exchange traded fund cooled off in 2022, marking the first drop in new issues in three years.
During the 2022 trading year, 431 exchange traded funds were unveiled by different fund issuers. This marked a 9.6% decline from 2021, when 477 ETFs came to market. Additionally, during the COVID year of 2020, 318 separate exchange traded funds were launched.
Some of the funds that garnered attention in 2022 included the God Bless America ETF (NYSEARCA:YALL), an anti-ESG fund, and AXS 2X Innovation ETF (NASDAQ:TARK), a leveraged fund tracking the performance of Cathie Wood's ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK). Meanwhile, leveraged single-stock ETFs were also popular, including ones focused on Tesla (TSLA), like the GraniteShares 1.25x Long TSLA Daily ETF (NASDAQ:TSL) and GraniteShares 1x Short TSLA Daily ETF (NASDAQ:TSLI).
While launches were down in 2022, tough market conditions also triggered a surge in closures. The year saw 145 exchange traded funds close, which was nearly double the 79 closures that took place in 2021.
Some of the funds that closed were Cathie Woodâs ARK Transparency ETF (CTRU), along with a handful of Russian focused funds, which collapsed after that country invaded Ukraine. That category included names like the Franklin FTSE Russia ETF (FLRU), iShares MSCI Russia ETF (ERUS) and Direxion Daily Russia Bull 2X Shares (RUSL).
ETF launch and closure data is per ETF.com.
In broader market news, the major market averages have traded to the downside at the start of the new year of trading.