Any investor who hasn’t been living under a rock probably has some idea as to why the ETF industry has been expanding so quickly over the last several years. Intra-day liquidity, enhanced tax efficiencies, and a degree of transparency not available in many other structures are all common causes of the explosive growth in both number of products and ETF assets over the past decade. But the big driver of the ETF expansion relates to expenses–or perhaps more accurately, the lack thereof. [click to continue…]
FocusShares, the company acquired last year by Scottrade, has debuted 15 U.S. equity ETFs that are among the cheapest exchange-traded products available. The new products, which include both market cap-specific and sector-specific funds, are all linked to indexes developed and maintained by Morningstar. The new FocusShares ETFs include:
With 2011 just around the corner, tis the season for pledges to better everything from health to wealth to happiness in the coming year. Below, we offer up ten New Years’ Resolutions for ETF investors looking to cut expenses, round out their portfolios, and maximize returns in 2011 [for more ETF insights, sign up for [...]
As ETFs have become increasingly popular among more active traders in recent years, it may be easy to forget that the vehicle was originally designed with the long-term buy-and-holder in mind. For those who take stock in the numerous academic studies indicating that active management generally destroys value over the long haul, cost efficient vehicles [...]
As ETFs have burst on to the scene in recent years and worked their way into the investing mainstream, the number of products available and complexity of exposure offered has increased significantly. Advisors and investors have taken steps to educate themselves on the ins and outs of ETFs, but many are still scrambling to play [...]
The surge in ETF assets over the past several years has been driven by a number of factors, as investors have embraced the enhanced liquidity and tax efficiency these vehicles offer relative to traditional mutual funds and the improved diversification relative to individual stocks and bonds. But a big driver of the growth in ETF [...]
As the ETF industry has expanded at a breakneck pace in recent years, keeping track of all the products out there has become no easy task. There are now well more than 1,000 exchange-traded products included in the ETF Screener, and many of those have hit the market in the last two to three years.
It’s been a long time coming, but an S&P 500 ETF from Vanguard is finally here. The Valley Forge, Pennsylvania-based firm rolled out the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) on Thursday, nearly 35 years after the company introduced an S&P 500 index mutual fund that laid the groundwork for the rise of indexing as an [...]
The incredible rise of the ETF industry has been one of the biggest stories in the investment space over the last few years. The emergence of these securities as a favorite tool of both buy-and-holders and active traders has transformed the investing landscape, bringing indexing strategies to the forefront and bringing increased scrutiny to the [...]
Vanguard, the Valley Forge, Pennsylvania-based firm known for its low cost mutual funds and ETFs, is planning a major expansion of its ETF product line. The company announced today that it plans to introduce 19 new index funds with ETF shares, as well as an ETF version of its popular Vanguard 500 Index Fund. Many [...]
Charles Schwab may be a relative newcomer to the exchange-traded fund game, but the San Francisco-based firm has made quite a splash since wading into the ETF waters late last year. On Monday, Schwab shook up the industry again, announcing that it was reducing the expense ratios on six ETFs, or three quarters of its [...]
