2011 has rattled investors’ confidence as sluggish economic growth in the developed world was complemented with resurfacing European debt woes and deficit drama on the home front. With clouds of uncertainty gathering on all fronts, investors have been scrambling for safe haven exposure, although volatile trading has plagued virtually every corner of the market. Unfavorable market conditions have taken their toll on many of our all-ETF model portfolios; however, some of our portfolios have turned in rather impressive year-to-date performances amidst the overwhelming turmoil. [click to continue…]
Growth and evolution have been recurring themes in the exchange-traded universe in 2011, as investors are now faced with a diverse product lineup of over 1,400 ETPs. More than 300 of those are new additions in 2011, a year that broke the previous record for extent of product development. And while many of the new [...]
Equity markets have taken a wild ride this past year as everything from an unimaginable earthquake in Japan to a looming debt crisis in Europe has taken its toll on investors’ confidence. As 2011 draws to a close, many are left scratching their heads in confusion and uncertainty, given the predominantly gloomy economic outlook that [...]
Odds are that 2011 is a year many investors will be eager to forget. Ongoing uncertainty over Europe, combined with a frustrating employment situation stateside and even weakness among emerging markets has put many core asset classes in the red for the year. Most equity ETFs have struggled on the year, with major benchmarks having [...]
With the finish line in sight, it’s fairly safe to say that 2011 will be remembered by most investors as a wild, back-and-forth year that brought plenty of both hope and despair. A hot start raised optimism of a continued recovery after a generally impressive 2011, but the summer months were anything but relaxing; major [...]
As ETFs have burst on to the scene in recent years, just about every serious investor and professional money manager has taken a crash course in exchange-traded products, becoming familiar with the countless benefits and nuances of these products. Features such as enhanced transparency, upgraded tax efficiency, and low costs are generally well known at [...]
Job creation–or the lack thereof–has taken center stage throughout much of the developed world, emerging as one of the most substantial hurdles to economic growth and potential catalysts of a double dip recession. The jobs situation in the U.S. is shaping up to be the central issue in the next presidential election, sticking out as [...]
As the ETF industry has seen assets climb past the $1.1 trillion mark in recent months, the number of funds has also increased dramatically. There are now close to 1,300 ETFs available to U.S. investors, and hundreds more in the pipeline that could hit the market at some point in the not-so-distant future. While some [...]
As the size of the ETF lineup has ballooned to nearly 1,300 products, there has been some criticism over the increased granularity and sophistication that is characteristic of many of the latest additions. Many of the ETPs that have hit the market over the last few years probably have very little appeal to the vast [...]
The emergence of ETFs have given investors new, low-cost tools to gain exposure to markets that would otherwise be difficult to reach. Numerous ETPs have successfully hypertargeted unique corners of the market, such as emerging market debt, rare earth metals, and small cap gold mining funds. As investors grow more comfortable with diversifying their assets [...]
With the possible exceptions of baseball and apple pie, few things are more American than waiting until the last minute to finish up holiday shopping. Nothing says “Happy Holidays” like stress that comes from realizing that the final countdown to Christmas is well underway and you’ve hardly made a dent in your shopping list. We’re [...]
