Janus Henderson to close health and fitness ETF

Sep 1st, 2017 | By | Category: Equities

Janus Henderson has announced plans to close and liquidate the Health and Fitness ETF (Nasdaq: FITS) as a result of a market review of the firm’s product line-up.

Janus Health Fitness ETF

FITS will have its last day of trading on 26 September 2017.

Launched in June 2016, FITS seeks to take advantage of an increasing passion for fitness among the global population by investing in the equities of companies which deal in nutrition, sports apparel, fitness technology and exercise equipment, as well as those engaged in managing health clubs. The fund gains this targeted exposure by tracking the performance of the Solactive Health and Fitness Index.

Citing research released by Janus Capital at the time of FITS’ launch, US health club memberships climbed almost 19% annually between 2008 and 2016, taking revenues to $24.2bn, while revenue from footwear and other sports apparel has grown at a 42% pace over the past seven years. While relatively new to the market, a report issued in 2016 predicted sales of fitness trackers and other wearable technologies would reach $5.4bn by 2019.

Despite the optimistic outlook for the sector, the ETF has struggled to attract interest from investors and currently has assets under management of just $2.5 million.

As such, the fund has been scheduled for closure – it will no longer accept creation orders after the close of business on 26 September 2017 and trading in the fund will be halted before the market opens on 27 September 2017. Proceeds from the liquidation are currently planned to be distributed to shareholders on or about 3 October 2017.

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