As the lineup of exchange-traded products has expanded dramatically in recent years, financial advisors have found themselves with more tools at their disposal than ever before. The extreme granularity of many of the equity products out there allows for cheap, low maintenance targeting of specific corners of the investable universe, while the development of some increasingly complex products has opened up strategies that were previously inaccessible.
But perhaps the most impressive innovation in recent years has come on the bond side of the market, where the arsenal has expanded considerably over the past two years. Whatever your objective for the fixed income side of client portfolios, odds are there is an ETF that can be used to help you out. Below, we highlight ten common objectives when it comes to managing a bond portfolio–as well as the ETFs that can be used to achieve those goals [for more ETF insights, sign up for the free ETFdb newsletter]: [click to continue…]
Inflation has been a particularly frustrating topic in recent months. Despite widespread predictions for a surge in CPI in the wake of unprecedented injections of liquidity into global financial markets, upward pressure on prices has not yet materialized–at least not in many developed markets. The prospect of what seems to be an inevitable outcome has [...]
With another round of QE underway and strong demand for raw materials from emerging markets, inflation is once again on the mind of investors. Those looking to protect their portfolios from a surge in CPI have a number of options, ranging from gold to broad-based commodity baskets to equities of commodity-intensive companies. But among the [...]
It’s baaaaaaaack. After a brief hiatus that saw investors rushing to determine the best ways to battle deflation, inflationary concerns have begun to surface again. The cause of the latest bout of inflationary anxiety is of course the QE2 program recently announced by the Federal Reserve that calls for the purchase of hundreds of billions [...]
Thanks to Ben Bernanke’s $600 billion foray into the U.S. Treasury markets in the hotly debated QE2, many investors have begun to worry that a severe bout of inflation is right around the corner. Renewed anxiety has pushed Treasury Inflation Protected Bonds, or TIPS, to a negative yield in recent auctions, underscoring just how robust [...]
PIMCO was a latecomer to the ETF industry. But since wading into the ETF waters last year, the California-based bond giant, has rapidly built up its fixed income lineup, which now includes both actively-managed and passively-indexed products focusing on munis, investment grade corporate debt, Build America Bonds, and of course U.S. Treasuries. The company expanded [...]
As investors pile into gold and other precious metal ETFs, expectations of an eventual surge in inflation seem to be building–even through deflation may be the more immediate concern. Another popular way to protect against such a development has been with inflation protected bonds, securities that can offer investors protection against inflation by adjusting principal [...]
PIMCO, the Newport Beach, California-based bond fund giant, launched its latest exchange-traded fund on Wednesday, the Intermediate Municipal Bond Strategy Fund. The new ETF, which comes with an expense ratio of 35 basis points, will trade under the ticker MUNI, which was somehow still available. The ETF will be managed by John Cummings, the company’s [...]
Newport Beach, California-based PIMCO, one of the largest bond fund companies in the world, has made two additions to its small but growing line of fixed income exchange-traded funds. The PIMCO 3-7 Year U.S. Treasury Index Fund (FIVZ) completes the lineup of products covering key rate segments of the Treasury market, fitting between PIMCO’s 1-3 [...]
Pimco, the Newport Beach, California-based bond fund giant, is quickly expanding its presence in the ETF arena. Three months ago, Pimco was watching from the sidelines as iShares continued to show its dominance in the fixed income ETF space. With the launch of three additional ETFs this month, Pimco’s product line now consists of five [...]
As the ETF industry has expanded in recent years, a significant percentage of the expansion has come from equity ETFs embracing new regions and investment styles and from commodity funds offering small investors exposure to resources that were previously available only to the ultra-rich (although position limits are threatening to restrict access to numerous commodity [...]
