White-label ETF platform ETF Managers Group has announced it has decided to close the ETFMG ETFx HealthTech ETF (Nasdaq: IMED) based on an ongoing review of market demand. Effective immediately, IMED will increase its cash holdings in contemplation of liquidation and will no longer accept creation orders.

IMED will have its last day of trading on 6 September 2017.

Conventional exposures to healthcare have tended to focus on pharmaceutical research, while ignoring the role of technology in revolutionizing the management and delivery of healthcare. IMED, on the other hand, concentrates on three technology-driven facets of the healthcare field, namely healthcare informatics, medical instruments and medical devices.

According to ETFMG, the Centre for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that the healthcare sector will reach 20% of US GDP by 2020. Despite the prospects for growth in the sector, and an impressive year-to-date fund performance of 22.9% (as of 31 July 2017), IMED has failed to attract interest from investors and currently holds assets under management of just $2.8 million.

Trading in the fund will be suspended at the closing of the market on 6 September 2017. Proceeds of the liquidation are scheduled to be sent to shareholders on or about 8 September 2017.

The closure follows shortly after the liquidation of the PureFunds ISE Big Data ETF and the PureFunds Solactive FinTech ETF at the start of August 2017.

ETFMG is currently in the midst of a partnership dispute with ETF issuer PureFunds over the ownership rights to a range of jointly-launched ETFs, including IMED, initially released under the PureFunds brand (See: “ETF Managers Group and PureFunds in partnership dispute”).