When rattling off the advantages that ETFs hold compared to traditional actively-managed mutual funds, most investors usually start with the issue of expenses. The easiest comparison to make involves expense ratios, the fees charged by ETF and mutual fund companies for investing in a product. Though some mutual funds offer single-digit expense ratios, most actively managed products charge in excess of 1% (the average for the mutual fund industry is in the neighborhood of 1.4%). By comparison, the average expense ratio for ETFs is less than 0.60%, and there are more than a dozen funds that charge less than 10 basis points. [click to continue…]
No matter where investors look in the developed world, the picture isn’t pretty. In the U.S. unemployment remains intolerably high, and uncertainty over the latest round of QE will continue to hang over stock markets. In Europe efforts to control surging deficits have been met with protests and public outrage, complicating the process of reeling [...]
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 [...]
After watching rival Vanguard roll out more than a dozen domestic equity ETFs earlier this month, iShares continues to focus its attention on international stock markets, rolling out three new ETFs on Wednesday. The new funds include the MSCI Philippines Investable Market Index Fund (EPHE), MSCI Small Cap Brazil Index Fund (EWZS), and MSCI Small [...]
Emerging markets ETFs have become tremendously popular in recent years, as investors frustrated by the stagnant growth in the developed world have been lured in by the impressive economic expansion occurring in the developing world. Though there are many options available, the most popular way to play emerging markets is through VWO or EEM; two [...]
Van Eck announced on Wednesday the latest addition to its ETF product lineup, rolling out the Market Vectors Small Cap India ETF (SCIF). The new ETF will seek to replicate the performance of the Market Vectors India Small-Cap Index, a benchmark that includes about 120 constituents with an average market capitalization of approximately $450 million.
Brazil has become one of the most popular investment destinations in recent years, as U.S. investors have begun to question their “home country bias” and tilt portfolios more heavily towards the fast-growing emerging markets. Once upon a time, options for exposure to Brazil were somewhat limited; most mutual funds and some of the first ETFs [...]
One of the greatest spectacles in sports kicks off in South Africa over the weekend, with 32 countries gathering to compete in the final stages of the World Cup. Even the economists of the world have taken an interest in the upcoming matches; ABN Amro recently released a note predicting that the world economy would [...]
Van Eck announced today plans to reduce the expense caps on three of its international equity ETFs, effective immediately. The three ETFs that will be impacted include:
As the U.S. ETF industry has grown to nearly 1,000 products and $800 billion in assets, the pace of innovation in the industry has been remarkable. As issuers have rushed to claim their spot in the rapidly-expanding space, most have focused not on duplicating existing products, but rather being first-to-market with a unique type of [...]
IndexIQ announced on Tuesday the launch of the IQ Taiwan Small Cap ETF (TWON), the firm’s fourth product focusing on international small cap stocks. TWON will track the IQ Taiwan Small Cap Index, a cap-weighted benchmark that includes small cap companies domiciled and primarily listed on stock exchanges in Taiwan. The underlying index consists of [...]
