Michael Johnston
Michael Johnston is the director of ETFdb.com, where he contributes several articles each week. Michael is one of the most widely-followed authors in the ETF world, and he is regularly quoted in publications such as Barron’s and the Wall Street Journal. He is also a regular on the ETF conference circuit, having hosted panels at events such as Inside ETFs and Super Bowl of Indexing.
Michael graduated with a degree in finance from the University of Notre Dame, and has completed the exam portion of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program. Michael’s interests include emerging markets and junk bonds.
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iShares continues to expand its suite of fixed income ETFs in 2012, rolling out a pair of ETFs that bring a new level of granularity to corporate bonds. The Baa-Ba Rated Corporate Bond Fund (QLTB) and B-Ca Rated Corporate Bond Fund (QLTC) will seek to replicate indexes comprised of bonds with specific credit ratings, segmenting the universe of corporate debt into multiple buckets. Currently, the products in the High Yield Bonds ETFdb Category and Corporate Bonds ETFdb Category generally hold securities with multiple credit ratings, covering a wider range of the risk/return spectrum.
The Baa-Ba Rated ETF (QLTB) will straddle the line between investment grade and non-investment grade. Generally, bonds rated Baa3 or higher are considered to be investment grade, while those rated Ba1 and lower are in “junk” status. QLTC will focus its portfolio on bonds that are substantial credit risks, including some components that are in default with little hope of recovery [see Better-Than-AGG Total Bond Market ETFdb Portfolio].
iShares had previously launched the Aaa-A Rated Corporate Bond Fund (QLTA), which focuses on the highest quality investment grade corporate bonds.
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The ongoing expansion of the ETF industry continues to bring previously hard-to-reach corners of the global financial market at the fingertips of mainstream investors and institutional money managers alike. However, with innovation also comes the introduction of new complexities, and for many, the towering lineup of over 1,400 exchange-traded products can seem a bit intimidating at first glance. For traders and investors alike, there is a host of obvious and many not-so-obvious factors to consider before buying into a position [see Free Report: How To Pick The Right ETF Every Time].
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As the ETF universe has expanded by leaps and bounds in recent years, investors now have tools at their disposal to accomplish almost every objective. From plain vanilla stock and bond indexes to hyper-targeted regional and sector funds, there are ETFs to bet on just about every asset class. And there are also a number [...]
It wasn’t that long ago that indexes were used almost exclusively as performance benchmarks and barometers for stock market performance, most visible as a summary of recent activity on the evening news on in the business section of the morning paper. But over the past several years, the rise of indexing strategies and ETFs has [...]
United States Commodity Funds rolled out another addition to its suite of “third generation” commodity ETPs this week, debuting a fund that will take a unique approach to delivering access to agriculture commodities. The United States Agriculture Index Fund (USAG) will implement a variation of the methodology used by USCI, dubbed the “contango killer” commodity [...]
Innovation has become a common occurrence in the ETF industry in recent years, transforming the product lineup from a collection of blunt instruments into an arsenal of more than 1,400 investing tools. Among those products are a growing number of precise, targeted tools that allow investors an unprecedented level of granularity when building a portfolio. [...]
Van Eck continued a recent trend of expansion in the junk bond ETF space today with the launch of a product that targets a unique segment of the high yield bond market. The new Market Vectors Fallen Angel High Yield Bond ETF (ANGL) will focus on debt that was originally rated as investment grade quality [...]
As interest in gold as an investable asset has increased in recent years, more and more investors looking to gain exposure to the precious metal are turning to exchange-traded products. U.S.-listed gold ETPs now have assets in excess of $80 billion, representing a material portion of the total industry. Gold ETPs have generally performed very [...]
iShares continued its introduction of ETFs targeting high yielding asset classes with the debut of two more funds on the BATS Exchange this week. The Global HighYield Corporate Bond Fund (GHYG) completes a trio of junk bond ETFs to debut this week that target markets outside the U.S., while the Morningstar Multi-Asset Income Index Fund [...]
The FocusShares lineup of ETFs hit its one year milestone this week, marking the anniversary of the launch of 15 products focusing on U.S. equities. When FocusShares made its entrance 12 months ago, it marked the latest development in an ongoing “price war” in the ETF industry; many of the FocusShares ETFs launched as the [...]
iShares introduced a pair of new ETFs this week that offer exposure to junk bonds from issuers outside the U.S., opening a new segment of the global fixed income market that had previously been difficult to access. The two new funds include a product that targets junk bonds from emerging markets as well as a [...]
Van Eck notched yet another first for the ETF industry today with the launch of a product designed to deliver exposure to high yielding bonds from international issuers. The Market Vectors International High Yield Bond ETF (IHY) will seek to replicate an index comprised of below investment grade debt from issuers in both emerging and [...]
