The ETF industry has long been known for the many advantages that it offers over competing mutual funds and other investment vehicles. One of the most significant upsides that exchange traded products have is their relatively low expenses; investors can gain exposure to asset classes of all kinds for a reasonable price. In fact, cheap ETFs have become so popular in recent years, that issuers have even started competing by slashing expense ratios to try and get a leg up on their more expensive competition, and some evidence shows that the strategy is paying off well. But while many investors are concerned with how much an investment will cost them, few stop to think about what that particular investment yields for its issuer [see also 12 High-Yielding Commodities For 2012]. [click to continue…]
SPY has long been the king of exchange traded products. Hitting the market in 1993, this fund has amassed nearly $100 billion in assets making it not only the largest ETF in the world, but also one of the largest funds available to investors. Its ultra low expenses and massive daily volume have allowed it [...]
ETF investing has surged in recent years as the industry has experienced exponential growth in nearly all aspects of the universe. Now, there are over 1,400 products with more than $1 trillion in combined assets to offer exposure to just about every corner of the market an investor could ever want. But while these products [...]
It is no secret that the ETF industry is dominated by just a handful of products. The majority of the $1 trillion plus assets are confined to roughly 100 funds, leaving the other 1,300 ETFs in the dust. But as growth in the industry continues to pick up, more and more funds are entering elite [...]
The year-end periods provides the ETF industry with a couple of opportunities to flex its collective muscle; performance comparisons generally tend to favor those products with lower expense ratios–a defining feature of exchange-traded funds. But early January also puts another benefit of exchange-traded products into focus: enhanced tax efficiency relative to traditional mutual funds. The [...]
The ETF industry finished 2011 with assets of about $1.06 trillion according to data recently released by the ETF Industry Association. Total assets grew by about 5% over the previous year, when the industry stood at $1.01 trillion. Net cash inflows for the year totaled about $117.6 billion, a slight decrease from 2010 when the [...]
Vanguard, the Pennsylvania-based provider of ETFs and mutual funds known for its low management expenses, has further enhanced the cost efficiency on its lineup of sector-specific ETFs. The company announced that the expense ratios on a handful of its sector funds have been cut to 0.19%, making them slightly cheaper than the popular lineup of [...]
Innovation has been a dominant theme in the ETF industry and this year, 2011, has shaped out to be perhaps the most exciting one yet. Growth is the other key ingredient for success and the exchange-traded universe has seen an abundance of new product launches; veteran issuers and newcomers alike have expanded their product lineups [...]
As the calendars prepare to flip forward, it appears as if 2011 will go down as a record-breaking year for the ETF industry on the product development front. More than 300 new ETPs began trading this year, shattering the previous record set in 2010. But despite the record size of the ETF lineup, it appears [...]
With 2011 nearly in the books, the ETF industry has set yet another record for product development and innovation. More than 300 exchange-traded products debuted this year, beginning in early January with the launch of the first VIX ETFs from ProShares and continuing through late December when RBS added another Trendpilot ETN to its lineup. [...]
The curtain is about to drop on 2011, a year that will go down as a record-breaking period for the rapidly-expanding ETF industry. More than 300 exchange-traded products began trading this year, with dozens of issuers rolling out new products. While some of the new additions bear a striking resemblance to more established products on [...]
