, Columnist
1,000 Dead ETFs Is Cause for Celebration
The market is a meritocracy, and only the strongest survive.
Let us mourn and move on.
Source: General Photographic Agency/Hulton Archive
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Sometimes death is a sign of life.
The exchange-traded-fund industry buried its 1,000th product this year as the number of victims is growing almost as fast as new products hitting the market. This is obviously bad for the issuers of the deceased funds, but this Darwinism should be seen as healthy and natural in a thriving — albeit brutal — market.