ETF assets gain $4.7 billion in August

The exchange traded fund industry saw assets increase $4.7 billion to $587 billion in August, according to data released today by State Street Global Advisors of Boston. Two new ETFs were launched during the month, bringing the total number of ETFs in the United States to 710. The top three ETFs in terms of dollar volume traded for the month were the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) from SSgA at $26.37 billion, the iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) from Barclays Global Investors of San Francisco at $7.31 billion and the NASDAQ-100 Index Tracking Stock (QQQQ) from Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC of Wheaton, Ill., at $6.25 billion. The top three ETFs in terms of assets were the SPDR S&P 500 ($70.2 billion), the iShares MSCI EAFE Fund (EFA) from BGI ($38.33 billion) and the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) also from BGI ($20.29 billion).