London, 22 January 2010

ETF Exchange reaches $350m assets under management as resource-equity related ETFs show stellar performance for 2009. ETF Securities Ltd (ETFS), the global pioneers in Exchange Traded Commodities (ETCs) and independent provider of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), is pleased to announce that ETF Exchange, its third generation ETF platform has now reached over $350m in assets under management as of 20th January 2010.

• Resource-equity related ETFs show stellar performance this year, with ETFX DAXglobal Coal Mining Fund (COAL) up 171% in 2009.

• ETFX equity ETF platform has seen strong trading growth, with turnover now reaching $100m per week

• Third generation ETFs pioneered by ETF Securities

The ETFX equity ETF platform continues to see strong trading volume growth, fuelled by very strong fund performance, four of the ten top performing ETF’s on the LSE in 2009 were ETFX funds, namely ETFX DAXglobal Coal Mining Fund (COAL), ETFX Dow Jones STOXX 600 Basic Resources Fund (BASR), ETFX S-Net ITG Global Agribusiness Fund (AGRI) and ETFX DAXglobal Gold Mining fund (AUCO). New Consortium Banks also joined the platform in 2009.

The vision for third generation ETFs was pioneered by ETF Securities. The idea was inspired by investor demands for increased levels of transparency, liquidity and counterparty risk management. ETF Securities identified that the current ETF issuance model by single financial institutions could be strengthened by diversifying index replication across a consortium of the strongest financial players and concentrating liquidity within a single platform. Under the current ETF issuance model, if the sponsoring / issuing financial institution fails, it is highly likely that their respective ETFs would be greatly disrupted and potentially liquidated.

Commenting on ETF Exchange reaching $350m in AUM, Mark Weeks, CEO of ETF Exchange, said: “The ETF Exchange has seen rapid growth in terms of product breadth, trading liquidity, and returns since its inception in the December quarter of 2008. With the participation of a world-class network of banks the platform will offer investors a unique opportunity to trade an innovative range of ETFs with an unparalleled level of service, setting a new benchmark in global ETF trading.”

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