Northern Trust Is Closing Suite Of Index ETFs

• By ETFguide.com
• On 11:23 am EST, Thursday January 29, 2009

SAN DIEGO (ETFguide.com) - Northern Trust has decided to exit the ETF arena less than a year after they launched their first set of international country specific index ETFs.

Unlike the iShares suite of ETFs which use individual country slices of the MSCI world universe, NETS used reputable, 'native' market indexes such as the German DAX or French CAC 40.

Aside from one sector ETF, the NETS lineup included 15 country specific ETF option and one global ETF for a total of 17 funds. According to ETFguide's database, the only ETF database to include closed funds, 65 ETFs have closed in recent years.

Rick Ferri, Founder of Portfolio Solutions, finds Northern Trust's exit from the ETF business disappointing. 'Although their current funds failed to increase in assets for many reasons, I feel that Northern Trust had excellent management talent and believe they could have become a driving force in the ETF marketplace. I can only speculate that the current banking crisis created a short-term concern about falling corporate earnings, and that could be the main factor behind the decision to close programs that are not yet profitable,' said Ferri.

With only $33 million in assets as of December 31, 2008, the funds never gained traction. The Board considered current market conditions, the inability of the funds to attract significant market interest since their inception, their future viability as well as prospects for growth in the funds' assets in the foreseeable future. The board determined that it was advisable and in the best interests of the funds and their shareholders to liquidate the funds.

Monday, Feb. 9, 2009, is scheduled to be the last day of trading for the NETS series of index ETFs.  Any person holding shares in the funds after the delisting date will receive a cash distribution equal to the net asset value of their shares as determined on Feb. 20, the date of liquidation pursuant to the Funds' valuation policies.

List of ETFs scheduled to close:

NETS S&P/ASX 200 Index Fund (Australia) - NYSEArca: AUS

NETS BEL 20 Index Fund (Belgium) - NYSEArca: BRU

NETS Hang Seng China Enterprises Index Fund - NYSEArca: SNO

NETS CAC40 Index Fund (France) - NYSEArca: FRC

NETS DAX Index Fund (Germany) - NYSEArca: DAX

NETS Hang Seng Index Fund (Hong Kong) - NYSEArca: HGK

NETS ISEQ 20 Index Fund (Ireland) - NYSEArca: IQE

NETS TA-25 Index Fund (Israel) - NYSEArca: TAV

NETS S&P/MIB Index Fund (Italy) - NYSEArca: ITL

NETS TOPIX Index Fund (Japan) - NYSEArca: TYI

NETS AEX-index Fund (The Netherlands) - NYSEArca: AEX

NETS PSI 20 Index Fund (Portugal) - NYSEArca: LIS

NETS FTSE Singapore Straits Times Index Fund - NYSEArca: SGT

NETS FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index Fund (South Africa) - NYSEArca: JNB

NETS FTSE 100 Index Fund (United Kingdom) - NYSEArca: LDN

NETS FTSE CNBC Global 300 Index Fund - NYSEArca: MYG

NETS Tokyo Stock Exchange REIT ETF - NYSEArca: JRE

Buzz up!