In recent years, ETFs have become increasing popular tools for accessing the fixed income corner of the market. The space initially grew much more slowly than equity ETFs, but investors have gradually become more comfortable with the combination of fixed income exposure and the exchange-traded structure. Innovation in the bond ETF space has been impressive in recent years; a number of first-to-market products have popped up that allow for precise access to various corners of the global bond universe.
Among the most popular bond ETFs are two products in the Total Bond Market ETFdb Category: AGG and BND. These ETFs have aggregate assets of more than $20 billion and individually trade close to one million shares daily. Both AGG and BND are linked to the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, a broad-based benchmark that covers the investment grade U.S. bond market. For many investors, an allocation to one of these products–or to one of a number of similar offerings–accounts for the vast majority of the fixed income portfolio. [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 [...]
The fixed income corner of the ETF industry has experienced tremendous growth in recent years, as investors have become increasingly comfortable with achieving bond exposure through the exchange-traded structure. In 2010 more than $26 billion flowed into bond ETFs, following a year that saw more than $42 billion in net inflows. During the first six [...]
The first half of 2011 is officially in the books, and many investors find their portfolios in approximately the same place as they were to start the year (though a furious rally in the final week of the quarter gave a nice boost at an opportune moment). Most major equity indexes are up slightly on [...]
Japan’s economy has been in the spotlight for the last several weeks, as investors have attempted to determine the long-term impact of the recent natural disaster and ongoing nuclear crisis. Although the horrific disaster rocked the Japanese economy and brought up a fresh crop of issues for the nation, some are beginning to look beyond [...]
Recent economic turmoil has shaken markets around the world as the odds of a sovereign debt crisis in Europe creep gradually higher. The debt-laden nations of Greece and Spain have seen the prices of their bonds plummet as investors demand additional compensation for higher perceived risk; the yield on Spanish debt has nearly doubled in [...]
In a generally strong global economic recovery, Japan has been one of the weakest links, struggling to gain any sort of traction while battling deflation and ineffective policies from a government elected with hope for great changes. An already tough road back to sustainable economic growth got even tougher on Tuesday when Standard & Poor’s [...]
In the business of asset management, bond investing may not get much love, but it can be as vital a component of an investor’s portfolio as equities. Fixed income investing isn’t nearly as sexy as stock picking, but as many investors have learned in recent years, a well-rounded bond allocation can significantly reduce the overall [...]
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 [...]
