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 nuances of the exchange-traded structure have the potential to bring additional tax efficiencies to investors thanks to the availability of an “in kind redemption” that ultimately gives investors more control over the timing of tax obligations. Mutual funds, on the other hand, have a nasty tendency to stick remaining shareholders with tax liabilities incurred as a result of redemptions by others–a development that can obviously be undesirable [see Tax Loss Harvesting With ETFs: 6 Ideas To Lower Client Liabilities].
ETFs won’t allow investors to skip out on their taxes, but this product structure can deliver more control and greater efficiency in this regard. It is important to note, however, that not all ETFs are created equal when it comes to tax efficiency. Certain asset classes are less efficient than others; bond ETFs, for example, should be expected to incur capital gains taxes with some regularity.
Below, we run through the capital gains results for several of the largest ETF issuers, beginning with the market leader: [click to continue…]
ETF Database has introduced another new resource to its lineup of analytical tools designed to help financial advisors and individual investors navigate through the rapidly-increasing universe of exchange-traded products: ETF Scorecards that provide relevant, timely, and unbiased analysis of more than 1,300 ETPs. The ETF Scorecards are in-depth, customized analyst reports that highlight the noteworthy [...]
2011 has been a generally rough year for investors, as the recovery that took root in 2009 and 2010 has not continued. In fact, fears about a double dip recession have intensified considerably. Since the downgrade of U.S. credit quality in August, stock markets from around the globe have taken investors on a wild ride. [...]
ETF Database maintains a suite of analytical resources designed to help financial advisors and investors navigate through the rapidly-expanding ETF universe and perform meaningful analysis of products that meet a specified investment criteria. For those who haven’t yet become familiar with the lineup of free analytical ETF resources, below we provide an overview of the [...]
ETFdb.com, the independent and authoritative database of exchange-traded products, is excited to announce the introduction of an expanded and improved suite of resources that offers tools for segmenting and analyzing more than 1,300 U.S.-listed ETFs and ETNs. The combination of these new tools with the robust ETF categorization system maintained by ETFdb gives investors a [...]
Over the past few months the price of gold has soared to record highs, as investors have become increasingly fearful of an impending “double dip”, given the latest round of gloomy economic data from the U.S. coupled with Europe’s deteriorating financial health. Gold has always been a popular safe haven for investors seeking refuge during [...]
The free ETF screener maintained by ETF Database has been updated to include features for investors looking to identify products offering exposure to alternatives, an asset class that has seen a surge in interest in recent years. There is now an option to set the desired asset class in the ETF screener to Alternatives; making [...]
The Pocket ETF Database app, now available for iOS and Android devices, has been featured as one of the 7 Best Free Investing Apps For 2011 by Kiplinger, a widely-followed and highly-respected Web and print financial publication. The ETFdb App was featured alongside apps from Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance, Morningstar, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab. All apps [...]
The latest upgrade to the free ETF screener allows investors to filter through the universe of nearly 1,300 exchange-traded products to identify securities that can be traded commission free in various brokerage accounts. The new functionality allows investors to focus on ETFs eligible for commission free trading on a specific platform, or to see a [...]
With more than 1,200 products in a lineup that adds dozens of new funds every month, navigating through the ETF universe has become an increasingly challenging task in recent years. Innovation in the space has given investors more options than ever before for accessing asset classes and investment strategies that may have previously been out [...]
Now available from ETF Database is the free Head-To-Head ETF Comparison Tool, an analytical resource that allows investors to quickly and easily compare two ETFs side by side and analyze how potential investments stack up in terms of holdings, performance, technical strength, and other descriptive metrics. The new comparison tool joins a number of free [...]
