Five ETFs Seeing Big Outflows

Declining equity markets mean more than just lower stock prices. Another result is plunging assets under management (AUM) totals for scores of ETFs and the riskier the sector or country followed by the ETF, the hard the AUM number falls. Finding ETFs with AUM totals are far lower today than they were in, say May or July, is about as difficult as standing on the beach and attempting to hit the ocean by throwing a pea. In other words, it's pretty darn easy to find ETFs that have seen their AUM hauls pared in a big way in recent months. Of course, some AUM declines are more stunning than others, though many members of this list of ETF AUM losers won't come as surprises to investors that actively follow the ETF space. Here are five ETFs that have seen dramatic AUM declines in recent months. iShares MSCI Poland Investable Market Index Fund

: For a while and arguably longer than they should have, Poland ETFs held up nicely in the face of significant adversity at the hands of Europe's sovereign debt woes. A trend like that can only last so long and it has now been broken. EPOL had almost $118 million in AUM as of Oct. 3. That compares with almost $304 million on June 17. First ISE Global Engineering and Construction Index Fund

: The First ISE Global Engineering and Construction Index Fund certainly qualifies as an under the radar ETF. It's also a direct play on global infrastructure spending. That's a theme to be bullish on long-term, but not at the moment. FLM has seen its AUM total shed more than 50% to $29.7 million on Oct. 3 from $60.3 million on July 7. Market Vectors Agribusiness ETF

: Quite possibly the epitome of a sector ETF with bright long-term prospects and plenty of near-term challenges, the Market Vector Agribusiness ETF has been the king of the agriculture equity ETF space for several years now. It still is, but it had $4.5 billion in AUM as of Oct. 3 compared with $5.6 billion on July 5. iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund

: Another former member of the $5 billion AUM club that is no longer part of that illustrious group, EWY has been rocked by the departure from emerging markets equities. There is no debating South Korea's low beta and steadiness relative to other emerging markets, but that hasn't made EWY immune to the problems facing all EM ETFs these days. Since May 16, EWY has loss almost a third of its AUM falling to $3.45 billion on Oct. 3 from $5.1 billion. SPDR S&P Emerging Latin America ETF

: When it ETF allocates nearly two-thirds of its country weight to Brazil, losing almost half of its AUM in this market isn't a shock. GML had $203 million in AUM on May 26. As of Oct. 3 that number had dwindled to $118.1 million.