As the ETF industry has continued to expand at a breakneck pace, the introduction of first-to-market products has become somewhat commonplace. Well more than 100 ETFs have debuted this year, many of them targeting an asset class or investment strategy not previously accessible within the ETF wrapper. Recent weeks have seen the debut of the first car ETF, a pure play fishing ETF, and a bond ETF dedicated to debt of Latin America issuers. Unlike the reaction to hyper-targeted funds that have debuted in years past, investors have given many of these niche products a relatively warm reception. [click to continue…]
In recent years interest in achieving exposure to emerging markets has intensified tremendously, as the developing economies of the world have established themselves as the clear leaders of GDP growth while advanced economies have struggled to regain their footing. While there are dozens of countries that fall under “emerging” status, exposure to this investment strategy [...]
When considering the equity allocation of an investor portfolio, perhaps the most common bifurcation made is between developed and emerging markets. The distinction between developed and emerging markets has become a hot topic in recent years thanks to the tremendous gaps in growth and risk between the two groups. As developed markets have struggled to [...]
Guggenheim has been focusing on the fixed income portion of its ETF lineup in recent weeks, but the product development team at the Chicagoland issuer is also busy laying the groundwork for new equity ETFs as well [see Are Bond ETFs Broken?]. The firm recently filed details with the SEC for four international stock funds, [...]
No matter where investors look in the developed world, the picture isn’t pretty. In the U.S. unemployment remains intolerably high, and uncertainty over the latest round of QE will continue to hang over stock markets. In Europe efforts to control surging deficits have been met with protests and public outrage, complicating the process of reeling [...]
As the ETF world continues to expand at an impressive pace, a number of companies have sought to bring their own lineup of funds to the market in order to grab a piece of this rapidly-increasing pie. However, some have taken a different approach to gaining an ETF foothold, preferring to buy up existing issuers [...]
In recent weeks, increased international scrutiny over Israel’s blockade of Gaza and conflicts with vessels carrying aid to the impoverished area have overshadowed a rather unique economic accomplishment. Israel was recently reclassified from “emerging” to “developed” market status by index provider MSCI Barra, the firm responsible for creating and maintaining the benchmarks behind many popular [...]
First Trust announced the launch of a new index fund tracking the economies of the BICK economies, a twist on the popular BRIC bloc of major emerging markets. This new fund also includes exposure to Brazil, India and China, but swaps Russia for South Korea. As such, BICK offers an emerging markets alternative that avoids [...]
Direxion, a pioneer in the 3x leveraged ETF space, announced Thursday the launch of six new funds, bringing the firm’s total product offerings to 34, and represent firsts for both the company and the ETF industry. The leveraged ETFs beginning trading on Thursday include:
Whenever a company prepares for a public offering, executives have been known to spend an inordinate amount of time choosing the combination of letters that will serve as the company’s ticker and often nickname within the investment community. To many, the fixation on selecting the perfect ticker seems like an irrational obsession on par with [...]
Lisle, Illinois-based Claymore, the ETF issuer that was acquired by Guggenheim Partners earlier this year, announced last week that it will close four of its lightly-traded ETFs. December 11 will be the last day of trading for the following funds:
