by Eric Dutram on October 22, 2010 | Updated April 20, 2011
As the ETF world continues to grow, the competitive landscape continues to evolve. In recent years, a growing number of firms have attempted to differentiate themselves by offering unique exposure to asset classes and strategies not previously available–such as funds tracking the Philippine stock market or ETNs linked to the price of industrial metals such as zinc or tin. More recently, the ETF industry has witnessed escalating price wars, with multiple issuers lowering management fees in an attempt to lure cost-conscious investors. These price wars have sent expense ratios to as low as six basis points, much to the delight of investors accustomed to forking over upwards of 1.5% annually to active mutual funds. But many ETF issuers have recognized that the total cost of ETF investing goes beyond just expense ratios, and have aggressively marketed programs designed to save investors money when executing ETF trades [see The Total Cost Of ETF Investing]. [click to continue…]
by Eric Dutram on October 10, 2010 | Updated October 20, 2010
As the ETF world continues to expand, more online brokerage houses are beginning to offer their clients commission-free trading on ETFs as a way to generate interest in these relatively new investment vehicles. Among the first firms to offer this program were Fidelity, which currently offers 26 commission-free iShares ETFs, Charles Schwab (11 ETFs), and [...]
ETFs have burst onto the investing scene in part because they allow for a tremendous simplification of the portfolio construction process. Even relatively novice investors are able to construct a well-diversified, balanced portfolio with just a handful of tickers, eliminating a slew of unnecessary expenses in the process.
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 [...]
It is no secret that the ETF industry has been wildly successful in recent years, taking in hundreds of billions of dollars and being embraced by both cost-conscious buy-and-holders and more active investors. This rise in popularity has made ETF issuers attractive assets to some investors; acquisitions of iShares, Claymore, and Rydex over the last [...]
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 [...]
An already tumultuous day took a terrifying turn in afternoon trading on Thursday, as several major U.S. indexes lost multiple percentage points in a matter of minutes before reclaiming big chunks of the ground lost. At 2:40 on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down about 415 points, putting it on pace for one [...]
Claymore, the Chicagoland issuer known for its line of themed ETFs and targeted sector funds, has launched three new ETFs based on broad market indexes maintained by Wilshire. The new funds include the Wilshire 5000 Total Market ETF (WFVK), Wilshire 45oo Completion Index ETF (WXSP), and Wilshire U.S. REIT ETF (WREI).
by Andy H on December 22, 2009 | Updated June 24, 2010
It’s no secret that actively managed funds have fallen out of fashion. Many big names have touted the benefits of financial instruments that track an index, and ETFs such as SPY and VTI have enjoyed huge asset inflows as a result. Legendary investor Warren Buffett is even on board, announcing that “a very low-cost index [...]
Following a year that saw some of the worst performances in recent memory, many asset classes have bounced back in 2009. But some have performed better than others, and as the year draws to a close we take a look at some of the best-performing ETFs. The year’s top gainers include a few of the [...]
