Claymore Liquidations

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Written by Journal of Indexes Staff

Wednesday, 30 April 2008 05:00 | Related ETFs: KLD

In a surprising move, Claymore Securities liquidated 11 of its least popular ETFs in February, in one of the largest ETF fund closings in recent memory. In fact, the Claymore announcement marked the first ETF liquidation since 2006, when the SPDR O-Strip (AMEX:000) ETF was eliminated due to low assets.

The last day of trading for the funds was February 19. On February 28, shareholders of record received cash payments for the full value of the funds. Any capital gains or losses from the portfolio were distributed as well. The funds being liquidated were:

Claymore/BIR Leaders 50
Claymore/BIR Leaders Mid-Cap Value
Claymore/BIR Leaders Small-Cap Core
Claymore/Robeco Boston Partners Large-Cap Value
Claymore/LGA Green
Claymore/KLD Sudan Free Large-Cap Core
Claymore/Clear Mid-Cap Growth Index
Claymore/Zacks Growth & Income Index
Claymore/IndexIQ Small-Cap Value
Claymore/Robeco Developed World Equity
Claymore/Clear Global Vaccine Index

The 11 funds were not the 11 smallest funds in the Claymore family; instead they were selected based on such factors as their performance against competing funds and their acceptance in the marketplace. “We’re always monitoring our funds to see what is being accepted by the marketplace,” said Christian Magoon, who heads up the ETF group at Claymore. “For some reason, these products just didn’t get traction. We view it as, ‘the marketplace has spoken.’” Many wonder if Claymore’s decision could lead other ETF providers to liquidate funds as well. There are currently more than 100 ETFs with less than $10 million in assets.