Direxion Funds, the ETF firm known for its triple-exposure leveraged and inverse funds, decided to shutter nine ETFs due to lack of assets, a decision that came at the same time Scottrade unit FocusShares threw in the towel on its lineup of 15 funds.

The funds Direxion is closing will stop trading on Sept. 5 and be finally liquidated on Sept. 12, the company said in a press release. The funds will completely close once all distributions have been made.

The nine funds are:

• Direxion Daily Agribusiness Bull 3X Shares (NYSEArca: COWL)
• Direxion Daily Agribusiness Bear 3X Shares (NYSEArca: COWS)
• Direxion Daily Basic Materials Bear 3X Shares (NYSEArca: MATS)
• Direxion Daily BRIC Bull 3X Shares (NYSEArca: BRIL)
• Direxion Daily BRIC Bear 3X Shares (NYSEArca: BRIS)
• Direxion Daily Healthcare Bear 3X Shares (NYSEArca: SICK)
• Direxion Daily India Bear 3X Shares (NYSEArca: INDZ)
• Direxion Daily Latin America Bear 3X Shares (NYSEArca: LHB)
• Direxion Daily Retail Bear 3X Shares (NYSEArca: RETS)

The closures will bring to 34 the total number of ETFs that will have closed so far this year, outpacing last year’s total of 30 closures.

In broad perspective, the closures betray an ETF industry that is maturing. The gathering of easy assets for the $1.2 trillion industry may well be in the rearview mirror. In place of the rapid rollouts of funds and the sharp increase in assets may well be a period of slower, if also steady, growth.

Still, many in the money management industry see the ETF as a crucial piece of the investment world, and say ETFs are likely to displace mutual funds over time.