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…]
The bulls took charge on Wall Street last week as investors reacted positively after a number of encouraging economic data releases. Home builders confidence and existing sales continue to point towards signs of a recovery in the battered down U.S. housing market. Better-than-expected jobless claims also helped restore confidence in the domestic economic recovery. Earnings [...]
This past year was the most active ever for the exchange traded industry in terms of product development; the launch of more than 300 new products shattered the record set in 2010. And innovation continues to run high in the industry; the creativity of issuers is still impressive, as many of the ETFs that have [...]
Investors were a bit anxious to jump into the equity markets on Wednesday ahead of the U.S. GDP report, while Oracle’s disappointing earnings didn’t do much in the way of restoring confidence. The European Central Bank laid out a $641 billion three-year loan program for the regions banks, in an effort to ensure liquidity and [...]
With the finish line in sight, it’s fairly safe to say that 2011 will be remembered by most investors as a wild, back-and-forth year that brought plenty of both hope and despair. A hot start raised optimism of a continued recovery after a generally impressive 2011, but the summer months were anything but relaxing; major [...]
Equity indexes posted a mixed performance on Thursday as investors anxiously await for a resolution in the Euro zone, while the bulls on Wall Street have their eyes set on the unemployment report due out later today. The Nasdaq led the way higher for the day with a 0.22% gain, while the Dow Jones Industrial [...]
Investors can’t seem to catch a break this week as sentiment continues to sway from fearful to hopeful, paving the way for profit taking and choppy trading across all markets. The spotlight remains fixated on the debt burdened Euro zone and investors worries continue to overshadow the encouraging economic data releases at home. Positive news [...]
Resurfacing Italian debt woes paved the way for persistent volatility in the markets last week, further deteriorating the economic outlook of the financially fragile currency bloc. Selling pressures overwhelmed the bulls on Wall Street, despite a host of better-than-expected economic data releases on the home front, including surprisingly strong retail sales, new home starts, industrial [...]
This past week presented yet another frustrating set of circumstances for investors to digest. Not only have European woes been weighing heavily on markets, but the U.S. debt committee has until Wednesday to pass an important budget haircut and for the time being, all signs point to a deadlock. August saw equities tumble when the [...]
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, [...]
Volatility swept over the markets as investors were taken by surprise on Tuesday after Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou called for a referendum to the three-pronged “bailout plan” agreed upon in Brussels last week. Domestic equity indexes tumbled upwards of 2% for the day as investors were reminded that EU policymakers were only headed in [...]
