AdvisorShares, one of the largest issuers of actively-managed ETFs, has forged a partnership to bring an active sector rotation ETF to market. The new Rockledge SectorSAM ETF (SSAM), which began trading Thursday, will seek to generate stable and consistent returns in all market conditions, developing a dollar neutral portfolio comprised of sector ETFs. The new ETF will utilize the Sector Scoring and Allocation Methodology (“SSAM”), a technique based on a proprietary quantitative analysis model that forecasts the projected returns to various sectors of the U.S. economy. The ETF will establish long positions in sector ETFs that are expected to outperform the S&P 500 and short positions in those that are expected to underperform that benchmark. [click to continue…]
Vanguard, the Pennsylvania-based provider of ETFs and mutual funds known for its low management expenses, has further enhanced the cost efficiency on its lineup of sector-specific ETFs. The company announced that the expense ratios on a handful of its sector funds have been cut to 0.19%, making them slightly cheaper than the popular lineup of [...]
Today saw markets hold their ground after yesterday’s strong performance. The day finished out with the Dow adding 32 points and the S&P 500 jumping 0.22%. 10 year bonds saw a healthy jump of nearly 2%, giving investors hope that the positive figures that have been rolling in for the U.S. are starting to piece [...]
The ETF industry has grown quickly in recent years; there are now more than 1,300 products. In many cases, investors and advisors find themselves with several choices for exposure to a desired asset class or investment strategy. While the options may be generally similar, there are nuances to each that impact the risk profile and [...]
Thursday was a bright green day on Wall Street as investors piled into equity market after European leaders took another step forward in the right direction. Policymakers in Brussels agreed upon a $1.4 trillion “bailout” while private bondholders negotiated to accept a 50% writedown on Greek debt. Although several key issues remain unanswered, investors are [...]
September was a brutal month for equity markets around the globe, as anxiety over Europe and intensifying concerns about the growth prospects for many emerging markets hammered asset prices. The freefall in stock markets hit the bottom line of the ETF industry as well; despite another month of strong inflows, industry assets fell below the [...]
American equity markets rose broadly in Tuesday trading, as optimism over a resolution to the Greek crisis boosted sentiment across the board. The Dow finished up by 1.2% but lagged the other, broader indexes in the session; the S&P 500 rose by 1.3% while the Nasdaq gained 1.5% on the day. Commodity markets also gained [...]
Sector rotation techniques have been around for decades, a relatively simple strategy often used by investors seeking to capitalize on short-term mispricings in order to generate alpha. In its most basic form, sector rotation involves segmenting the equity universe by industry, and moving into and out of various sectors depending on relative attractiveness from a [...]
Oil has not been the talk of markets since pre-recessionary time when sky high prices, above $140 per barrel to be exact, were acting as an anchor on various aspects of our economy. That period in time saw numerous businesses struggle with soaring crude prices, a good example being U.S. airline Skybus, who was forced [...]
ETF assets climbed to a new all time record in April according to the latest data from the National Stock Exchange, with a total of $1.14 trillion in more than 1,200 products at the end of last month. Total assets grew by more than 5% on the month, thanks to stellar performances from equities and [...]
IndexIQ rolled out the latest ETF offering exposure to oil companies today, debuting the IQ Global Oil Small Cap ETF (IOIL). The new ETF will be the first exchange-traded product to offer exposure to global small cap companies engaged in the oil sector, including areas of exploration and production, refining and marketing, and equipment, services [...]