Invesco PowerShares is making plans to close 19 of its exchange-traded funds, a dozen of which are based on fundamental indexes created by Rob Arnott's Research Affiliates.

But of those so-called "RAFI" funds, which use fundamental valuations to weight securities based on FTSE Group indexes, nine are U.S.-focused sector ETFs. The other three are niche-oriented international portfolios. 

The moves, which are expected to take effect on May 19, come after a splattering of smaller fund closings by other ETF providers earlier this year. The PowerShares shutterings pick up the pace of consolidations in an industry that had been growing at a faster pace than traditional mutual funds for a decade.

In fact, last year marked the first time since ETFs entered the investment marketplace in 1993 in which any significant number of fund closings had taken place.

But that came under horrific economic times when stocks were pummeled unlike anytime since the Great Depression.

After carefully evaluating numerous factors including shareholder considerations, length of time on the market, asset levels and the potential for future growth, we proposed closing certain portfolios that have not gained sufficient acceptance with investors," said Bruce Bond, PowerShares' chief executive, in a release after markets closed on Friday. 

He added: “We remain fully committed to the ETF industry and expect to offer new, exciting products in the months ahead.”

Among nine international PowerShares ETFs using Research Affiliates' fundamentally weighted indexes, two are scheduled to close. Those are the PowerShares RAFI Asia Pacific ex-Japan Small-Mid Portfolio (NYSE: PDQ) and the PowerShares International Real Estate Portfolio (NYSE: PRY). 

The other RAFI-based ETF shutterings involve pure-play U.S. sector funds. Although most have outperformed their peers on a multiyear basis—even the weakest performers have been at least holding their ground—domestic sector ETFs have increased in number and competition has intensified. The Vanguard Group, in particular, has been bulking up in the area with low-cost portfolios. And the leader by a wide margin in terms of assets, the Select Sector SPDRs, earlier this year reduced expense ratios. That effectively has made them the lowest-priced family of sector ETFs in the market. 

But PowerShares is also planning to eliminate five of its 40-plus Dynamic-brand ETFs. Those are based on a quantitative-based portfolio modeling process using Intellidex benchmarks. The indexes are built based on a combination of fundamental factors, ranging in style from growth to value as well as momentum and risk measures. Computers crunch the data and different metrics are given different weights. Stocks with the highest results are then used as benchmark constituents. 

PowerShares actually came out last year with the first active stock ETFs. It has been adding to that stable and continues to support quant funds through its Dynamic family along with other nontraditional portfolios. 

The two other ETFs set to be closed are tackling rather specialized markets. The PowerShares International Listed Private Equity Portfolio (NYSE: PFP) came out in late 2007 just as credit markets were collapsing and private equity firms were starting to fall on hard times. It has attracted just $12.6 million, according to PowerShares. 

The other specialty ETF shuttering is the PowerShares High Growth Rate Dividend Achievers Portfolio (NYSE: PHJ). The dividend-seeking marketplace has greatly expanded since PHJ debuted in 2005. It has about $13 million in assets. 

The last day of trading for the ETFs being closed will be May 18. The company is warning that as the liquidation process gets under way, "this process will cause each fund's holdings to deviate from the securities included in its underlying index."