As the ETF universe has expanded dramatically over the last several years, many investors have taken advantage of this asset class to tap into international equity markets. With single-country ETFs dedicated to dozens of developed and emerging markets, accessing the major (and not-so-major) stock markets around the globe has never been easier.
When evaluating international equity ETFs–as with all ETFs–it is important to take a look under the hood and fully understand what the portfolio includes. Below, we highlight a few relatively common characteristics of international stock ETFs that might be somewhat disconcerting to investors [for more ETF insights, sign up for the free ETFdb newsletter]: [click to continue…]
UBS, the issuer behind one of the broadest lineups of ETNs available to U.S. investors, continued the aggressive expansion of its product lineup this week with the introduction of two unique offerings. The company rolled out a pair of blunt instruments designed to be used in high level “risk on / risk off” trades, a [...]
The last five years have seen a tremendous expansion of the ETF industry, as assets have skyrocketed and the number of products available to U.S.-based investors has multiplied. That same period of time has also been a period of tremendous volatility in global financial markets; the last five years have witnessed an unprecedented financial crisis, [...]
The rapid expansion of the ETF industry has been one of the most important developments of the last several decades to financial professionals; as the lineup of exchange-traded products has surged past 1,300, financial advisors now have more tools in their toolkits than ever before to help construct client portfolios. With these new financial products [...]
Equity markets have taken investors for a wild ride over the past three months with chaotic trading dominating virtually every nook and corner of Wall Street. Amidst the volatility, investors have been seeking out refuge and fleeing to “safer” asset classes; although rational, this approach inevitability overlooks certain corners of the market that may in [...]
Monday marked the second straight major winning day for equities, as a number of earnings reports and good news from overseas propelled markets forward. “Five shares rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange” write Stan Choe and David K. Randall. The S&P 500 posted gains of 1.3% while the NASDAQ [...]
Stocks drifted higher on Tuesday following a positive home-builders confidence report along with better-than-expected earnings from Bank of America. The real story of the day, however, was the impressive last-hour rally on Wall Street, fueled one again by optimism over the euro zone debt situation. Stocks surged on high-volume just an hour before the closing [...]
This week started on a down note as investors once again reassessed the likelihood of a European contagion, pushing equities broadly lower in the process. The Dow finished the day lower by about 2.1% while the broader benchmarks turned in slightly better performances as the tech heavy Nasdaq fell by about 2.0% in comparison while the S&P [...]
The impressive pace of expansion in the ETF industry over the last several years has been well documented; continuous product development has resulted in the launch of more than 250 so far in 2011, and there are now more than 1,300 names in the ETF lineup. But while the depth of the ETF space has [...]
September was one of the worst months in years for global equity markets. Volatility swept throughout every corner of the financial markets as escalating Euro zone debt woes worried investors of an impending crisis. Investor confidence has been slowly eroding given the concerning global economic outlook, prompting many to pull out of the markets all [...]
Despite the death of American icon and former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, American stocks rose yet again in Thursday trading, as investors bought up shares of securities across the board thanks to solid data and more hope from the ECB. The Dow gained about 1.7% on the session while the S&P posted a 1.8% jump [...]
