Rydex Sees Big Jump In ETF Assets

Rydex, the pioneer in equal-weight ETFs, said assets under management (AUM) at the firm's ETF business have crossed the $8.5 billion mark, surging from $6.2 billion in November 2010.

At the end of March, Rydex had $7.9 billion in AUM, according to data from the National Stock Exchange, making the firm the ninth-largest U.S. ETF issuer by assets. Not surprisingly, the firm's equal-weight products are leading the AUM charge.

Much of the growth was driven by the firm's growing suite of Equal Weight products, whose assets jumped 44% in four months from $2.5 billion (on November 1, 2010) to $3.6 billion as of March 31, according to a statement issued by the company.

The equal weight approach, which weights index constituents or market sectors equally and maintains that equal weight stance through regular systematic rebalancing, helping curb the risks of stock overconcentration, has been particularly well-received by financial advisors during the market's recent volatility, Rydex said in the statement.

Rydex's flagship ETF is the Rydex S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (NYSE: RSP), which has outperformed the S&P 500 since its debut in 2003. RSP has $3.2 billion in AUM, according to data on the Rydex Web site.