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The American Stock Exchange® (Amex®) released its year-end 2007 business results today, highlighting its strong commitment to product innovation and to growing its core businesses. The Amex business units showed strong results with exchange traded funds (ETFs) setting a record year in new listings with 179 new ETFs. Structured products also had one of its best performing years in 2007, while the Amex’s options groups posted a sharp increase in volume and the Exchange’s equity business saw a 58% surge in new listings from the previous year.
2007 Year-End Highlights
- Amex lists 179 new ETFs from 14 different issuers, capturing 65% of the market.
- Amex lists 128 new structured products, bringing total listings to 400.
- Amex lists 109 new companies, a 58% increase from the previous year.
- The Amex Composite Index (XAX) finished 2007 at 2409.62, up 17%.
- XAX is up 68% over three years, 192% over five years and 252% over 10 years.
- Amex establishes record total options volume.
“The American Stock Exchange has continued to provide its customers with innovative and diversified investment opportunities and unparalleled personal service that it has long been known for,” said Neal Wolkoff, Chairman and CEO. “As we look ahead, our commitment to a strategic vision that incorporates disciplined business planning, execution and ongoing performance measurement will ensure our future success.”
Exchange Traded Funds
The Amex continued to be the global leader in ETF listings, a product category it pioneered in 1993. The Amex ETF Marketplace saw explosive growth, listing 179 new funds from 14 different issuers, a staggering 95% increase from 2006. Capturing over 65% of all new ETFs launched in 2007, Amex closed the year with a total of 380 ETFs and $250 billion in assets.
In 2007, the Amex continued to partner with the industry’s leading issuers as they returned to the Amex to list new commodity, fixed income and domestic and international equity products. Returning issuers included: Claymore Securities, Deutsche Bank, First Trust Advisors, iShares, PowerShares Capital Management, ProShares Advisors, Rydex Investments, State Street Global Advisors, Van Eck Global, The Vanguard Group and Victoria Bay Asset Management.
New issuers were a welcome addition to the Amex ETF family in 2007. Brand new entrants, Ameristock Corporation and SPA ETFs, Inc. selected the Amex to introduce their first U.S. ETFs. SPA ETFs, Inc.’s products represented the issuer’s first foray into the U.S. ETF marketplace, building on their family of funds already available in Europe. The Exchange also welcomed WisdomTree Investments in 2007 as they listed their first products on the Amex.
“The ETF market expanded rapidly in 2007 and the outlook for 2008 is full of exciting new prospects for continued growth,” said Scott Ebner, Senior Vice President of Amex’s ETF Marketplace. “As the pioneer of the category, ETFs are very much a part of the Amex identity and we place the highest priority on supporting issuers, educating investors, and helping to grow the ETF market.”
Equities
Amex’s equities business continued to attract both domestic and international equity issuers and welcomed 109 new listings in 2007, a 58 % surge compared to the same time period in 2006. Total market capitalization of new Amex listings soared to $24 billion; and initial public offerings (IPOs) more than doubled, with the total market capitalization of IPOs increasing over 200%.
Amex issues represent a diverse universe of sectors and geographic regions. In 2007 the Amex captured listings from around the world including Israel, China, Greece and Canada. Amex listings covered a wide range of industries, from U.S. and foreign markets, including Industrial, Health Care, Information Technology, Telecommunications, Energy, Financials, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Materials and Utilities.
The size of Amex-listed companies continued to see growth. The average market capitalization of new Amex listings gained 14% from the end of 2006 and saw a 17% increase in the share price of the average listing. Toronto-based Denison Mines exceeded $2 billion in market capitalization.
Amex’s leadership in innovative products has extended to developing a robust marketplace for companies formed for the purpose of completing a business combination. In 2007, we became the leading listing venue for these acquisition-focused companies and an important platform for many of their successor operating companies. The business gained momentum during the year and was highlighted by the $1.035 billion IPO of Liberty Acquisition Holdings Corp., underwritten by Citigroup Global Markets and Lehman Brothers, and the successful closing of the merger between our listed issuer, Endeavor Acquisition Corp., and the fashion retailer American Apparel Inc. in a deal valued at over $800 million.
The Amex Composite Index (XAX) finished 2007 at 2409.62, up over 17% from the end of 2006. XAX has maintained the strongest performance of all domestic broad-based composite indexes in this year, ending December 31, 2007. XAX rose 68% over three years, 192% over five years and 252% over 10 years, consistently outperforming the NASDAQ Composite Index, the NYSE Composite Index, the Russell 2000® Index, the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Index.
“The success of Amex’s Equities business is evidenced by the 58% increase in listings and IPOs more than doubling in 2007,” said Cliff Weber, Executive Vice President, Development and Strategy. “The Amex advantage is our commitment to providing our companies with the specialized services and tools needed to succeed in a competitive marketplace.”
Options
2007 was a record year for Amex’s options business. A total of 240,383,466 options contracts were traded and an average daily volume for Amex options was 957,703 contracts per day. In equity options trades, which make up the majority of the Amex’s options trading volume, the Amex traded 226,578,925 million contracts and an average daily volume of 902,705.
The Amex also established a new one-day volume record in options contracts on June 14, when 2,004,375 contracts traded at the Exchange. This new Amex volume record surpassed the previous one-day high of 1,709,089 contracts set on April 18, 2001. Demonstrating its commitment to meet the growing demands of customers, the Amex made further enhancements to its ANTE trading platform.
“This was an exciting year for the Amex’s options marketplace and we expect to see even greater improvement with Fix Connectivity in place in the first quarter of 2008,” said Michael T. Bickford, Senior Vice President of Amex Options. “The Amex is focused on growing our market share and regaining a more competitive position in the industry.”
Capital Markets
The Amex’s Capital Markets Group continued to build on its position as market leader in 2007. The Amex listed 128 new issues, a 12% increase from the previous year 2006 and currently trades 400 structured products.
In 2007 the Amex welcomed two new issuers in structured products: Barclays Bank PLC and American International Group, Inc. (AIG). The Amex listed Barclays iPathSM CBOE S&P 500 BuyWrite IndexSM Exchange Traded Notes in May and AIG’s Nikkei 225 Index MITTS (Market Index Target-Term Securities) in June.
In May, the Amex was awarded “Exchange of the Year, Americas” by Structured Products Magazine for excellence in innovation.
“This is the sixth consecutive year that the Amex’s Capital Markets Group has listed more than 100 new issues,” said Mr. Weber. “The commitment to bring new and innovative products to the marketplace has made the American Stock Exchange the listing venue of choice for structured product issuers.”
Closed End Funds
The Amex closed-end fund business posted strong results in 2007. With the addition of seven new closed-end funds, total assets reached $32 billion in149 funds. The Amex welcomed new issuers, Pioneer Investment Management, Inc which launched the Pioneer Diversified High Income Trust (HNW) and RENN Capital Group Inc. which listed the common stock of Renaissance Capital Growth & Income Fund III (RCG).
Cornerstone Advisors, returned to the Amex this year to launch the Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund (CFP). RMR Advisors Inc listed its sixth and seventh closed end fund at the Amex, the RMR Asia Real Estate Fund (RAF) and the RMR Dividend Capture Fund (RCR). Common shares of NAIC Growth Fund, Inc (GRF) and the 6.625% Series A Cumulative Preferred Shares (“Series A Preferred Shares”) of The Gabelli Global Gold, Natural Resources & Income Trust (GGN) also began trading at the Amex.
A noteworthy development in 2007 was the second conversion of an Amex-listed closed-end fund into an Amex-listed ETF. On June 15, the First Trust Value® 100 Fund (Ticker: FVL) was converted to an ETF and three days later, on June 18th, listed as the First Trust Value® 100 Exchange Traded Fund under the new Ticker: FVL. This is the second time First Trust converted a closed-end fund into an ETF, both listed on the Amex.
About American Stock Exchange
The American Stock Exchange® (Amex®) offers trading across a full range of equities, options and exchange traded funds (ETFs), including structured products and HOLDRSSM. In addition to its role as a national equities market, the Amex is the pioneer of the ETF, responsible for bringing the first domestic product to market in 1993. Leading the industry in ETF listings, the Amex lists 381 ETFs to date. The Amex is also one of the largest options exchanges in the U.S., trading options on broad-based and sector indexes as well as domestic and foreign stocks.
