PowerShares DWA Leaders ETFs Hit $2B In AUM, Names To Be Changed

Invesco's (NYSE:IVZ) PowerShares unit, the fourth-largest U.S. ETF issuer, said Thursday that its suite of ETFs based on Dorsey Wright & Associates relative index methodology has topped a combined $2 billion in assets under management.

PowerShares also said it is changing the names of the four ETFs.

News of the DWA suite of ETFs hitting $2 billion in AUM comes just nine months after PowerShares said the funds reached a combined $1 billion in assets. Illinois-based PowerShares also said it is changing the names of the four ETFs.

The $963.6 million PowerShares DWA Technical Leaders Portfolio (NYSE:PDP) will become the PowerShares DWA Momentum Portfolio while the $397.8 million PowerShares DWA SmallCap Technical Leaders Portfolio (NYSE:DWAS) will be referred to as the PowerShares DWA SmallCap Momentum Portfolio. Those name changes go into effect on October 4, 2013.

The PowerShares DWA Emerging Markets Technical Leaders Portfolio (NYSE:PIE), which has $313.9 million in assets, will become the PowerShares DWA Emerging Markets Momentum Portfolio while the PowerShares DWA Developed Markets Technical Leaders Portfolio (NYSE:PIZ) is transitioning to the PowerShares DWA Developed Markets Momentum Portfolio. PIZ currently has $418.2 million in assets.

"PowerShares DWA Momentum ETFs are based on Relative Strength,' a measure of a stock's performance in relation to other investment options. Numerous studies have demonstrated that relative strength can be a powerful tool for stock selection. A key strength of this methodology is that it's based on unbiased, objective market data, as opposed to a more subjective forecasting and research models," according to a statement issued by PowerShares.

The four PowerShares DWA funds are considered "smart beta" ETFs, a fast-growing sub-segment of the ETF space that eschews traditional market cap-weighting in favor of delivering returns by using fundamental or factors in the case of the DWA suite.

The methodology used by the PowerShares DWA ETFs has proven successful. For example, DWAS, the newest of the four funds, has outperformed larger rivals in the small-cap ETF space this year. In more favorable environments for emerging markets funds, PIE has also outpaced its larger competitors.

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