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How To Invest Like UBS In 2012 (Using Only ETFs)

Stoyan Bojinov — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:00:58 +0000

Equity markets have taken a wild ride this past year as everything from an unimaginable earthquake in Japan to a looming debt crisis in Europe has taken its toll on investors’ confidence. As 2011 draws to a close, many are left scratching their heads in confusion and uncertainty, given the predominantly gloomy economic outlook that many are expecting for the new year. Financial behemoth UBS has issued its economic outlook for 2012 along with a set of conservative investment principles that are sure to please the defensive-minded crowd worrisome of continuing economic turmoil. Within the detailed 28-page report, UBS Wealth Management Research emphasizes the importance of staying diversified on all fronts given the overhanging debt drama on both sides of the Atlantic. Volatility is expected to remain abundant in 2012 as the Euro zone struggles to restore stability in its debt burdened member nations, while the political gridlock at home [...]

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How ETF Investors Can Save $415 Million (Without Breaking A Sweat)

Michael Johnston — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:00:44 +0000

Financial advisors and individual investors who have embraced ETFs are generally painted as a cost conscious crowd, passing over expensive active mutual funds in favor of cheap indexing strategies. In general ETFs are considerably cheaper than mutual funds, thanks not only to the indexing strategy but also to the more efficient exchange-traded structure. But not all ETFs and ETNs are equally tax efficient; in many cases, the differential between products offering similar exposure can be meaningful. In fact, there are several examples of products linked to identical indexes with wildly different expense structures. And while there has been a movement towards cheaper products, a number of more expensive ETFs remain tremendously popular. So much so that movements from a handful of funds to lower cost alternatives could result in aggregate annual savings of more than $400 million in management fees–without altering the underlying index [see 25 Things Every Financial Advisor [...]

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Commodity ETF Investing: Five Factors To Consider

Michael Johnston — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 11:00:22 +0000

Commodity ETPs can be extremely powerful tools for tapping into an asset class capable of providing both return enhancement and diversification benefits. With dozens of products available–there are more than 120 U.S.-listed commodity ETFs according to the ETF screener–picking the right fund for your investment objectives and risk tolerances can be challenging. Beyond the type of commodity included, there can be several attributes of commodity ETPs that shape the risk/return profile; below, we look at five factors to consider when trying to narrow down the universe and find the right commodity ETF (or ETN): 1. Structure: ETC vs. ETN Most investors are familiar with the various product structures that are generally lumped together under the ETF umbrella, including exchange-traded notes, HOLDRs, and UITs. While the fine print of various security types may seem like inconsequential details, the nuances can have a meaningful impact on bottom line returns–especially in the commodity [...]

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All-ETF Portfolio For Cheapskate Investors: How Low Can We Go?

Michael Johnston — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:00:20 +0000

Any investor who hasn’t been living under a rock probably has some idea as to why the ETF industry has been expanding so quickly over the last several years. Intra-day liquidity, enhanced tax efficiencies, and a degree of transparency not available in many other structures are all common causes of the explosive growth in both number of products and ETF assets over the past decade. But the big driver of the ETF expansion relates to expenses–or perhaps more accurately, the lack thereof. ETFs were originally designed (at least in part) to combat what Vanguard founder John Bogle has called the “tyranny of compounded costs.” For investors who believe that security selection fails to consistently add value–and there is a boatload of academic evidence that supports that theory–paying for pricey active management does little more than erode returns over the long run. Most ETFs are passive in nature, meaning that they [...]

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ETF Investors Are Embracing Low Cost Options…Or Are They?

Michael Johnston — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 14:00:06 +0000

When running down the benefits of constructing a portfolio with ETFs, most investors will touch on the potential for enhanced tax efficiency, intra-day liquidity, and transparency in holdings. But the biggest benefit, in the minds of those accustomed to using primarily actively-managed mutual funds, are the low expense ratios. Most passively-indexed ETFs charge fees equal to only a fraction of the expense ratios levied by actively-managed products, making them ideal securities for investors convinced by the boatloads of academic evidence suggesting that active management fails to add value over the long term. Some investors making the switch assume that any ETF they buy will be considerably cheaper than a comparable actively-managed mutual fund, and pat themselves on the back for lowering their overall expenses. But as more and more ETF investors are realizing, all ETFs are not created equal from an expense perspective, and the gap between many similar or [...]

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Ten New Years’ Resolutions For ETF Investors

Michael Johnston — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 12:00:09 +0000

With 2011 just around the corner, tis the season for pledges to better everything from health to wealth to happiness in the coming year. Below, we offer up ten New Years’ Resolutions for ETF investors looking to cut expenses, round out their portfolios, and maximize returns in 2011 [for more ETF insights, sign up for our free ETF newsletter]: 10. Slim Down Your Expense Ratios If you’ve already made the jump away from pricey active mutual funds to more cost-efficient ETFs, our Mutual Fund To ETF Converter might not be of much use. But just because you’ve embraced ETFs in an effort to become a more cost conscious investor doesn’t mean that you’ve done all you can to trim your expense ratio. Some of the gaps between expense ratios of similar or even identical ETFs are wide enough to drive a truck through, meaning that there may be opportunities to [...]

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Ten Commandments Of ETF Investing

Michael Johnston — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 11:05:53 +0000

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 catch-up and unaware of the complexities these products can present. What began as a handful of securities seeking to replicate widely-known stock and bond indexes has grown into a lineup of more than 1,000 funds, offering exposure to nearly every asset class, region, and investment strategy imaginable. While this impressive growth has enhanced the arsenal of securities available to ETF investors, it has also created the potential for misuse and made finding the right ticker symbol a bit more challenging. And while ETFs offer countless potential advantages relative to strategies that revolve around mutual funds [...]

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UBS Launches Alerian MLP Infrastructure Index (MLPI)

Michael Johnston — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:29:27 +0000

The first quarter of 2010 was one of the most active periods in recent memory for the ETF industry. Approximately 60 new funds hit the market during this three month period, continuing the impressive expansion and innovation that has become standard in a space that has huge potential (see the March ETF Roundup). This trend looks to continue in the second quarter of the year, as UBS announced today the launch of the E-TRACS Alerian MLP Infrastructure Index (MLPI). MLPI is designed to track the performance of the Alerian MLP Infrastructure Index and pay a variable quarterly coupon linked to the cash distributions paid on the Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) included in the index. The benchmark to which this product is linked measures the performance of the infrastructure component of the MLP asset class, and currently consists of 25 energy infrastructure MLPs. A look at some of the index’s major [...]

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Inside The Five Most Expensive ETFs

Michael Johnston — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:49:28 +0000

The rise of the ETF industry is often attributed (in large part at least) to a shift in investor preference from pricey active management to low-cost indexing strategies. ETFs burst on to the investment scene by offering fees equivalent to only a fraction of those charged by traditional actively-managed mutual funds, and have continued to attract assets as investors frustrated with the inability of active management to consistently generate alpha seek out more cost-efficient alternatives. But not all ETFs offer bargain basement expense ratios. As the product offerings have become increasingly specialized and targeted in recent years, average fees have been on the rise. This trend isn’t necessarily attributable to issuer greed (the low end of the expense ratio range has expanded as well), but rather to increasing complexity and granularity of exposure available through ETFs. Replicating the S&P 500 is a relatively simple task, but tracking the performance of [...]

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Five Critical Questions To Ask When Investing In ETFs

Michael Johnston — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 08:00:58 +0000

ETFs have surged in popularity in recent years in part because of the numerous advantages they offer over traditional actively-managed mutual funds: lower costs, potential tax efficiencies, intraday trading, and enhanced transparency. But ETFs aren’t without potential drawbacks of their own. Although most funds appear relatively simple on the surface, there are some rather complex nuances as well. Below, we highlight five important questions for investors looking to avoid potential pitfalls and maximize efficiency of ETF portfolios (for more tips on ETF investing, sign up for our free ETF newsletter). 1. What Are The Underlying Assets? This sounds like a relatively simple question to ask, but I’d be willing to bet that there are a fair number of ETF investors who don’t understand exactly what they’re buying when they invest in certain exchange-traded products. This is most likely to happen with two types of products in particular: exchange-traded notes (ETNs) [...]

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ETF Database » DJCI

How To Invest Like UBS In 2012 (Using Only ETFs)

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How ETF Investors Can Save $415 Million (Without Breaking A Sweat)

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Commodity ETF Investing: Five Factors To Consider

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All-ETF Portfolio For Cheapskate Investors: How Low Can We Go?

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ETF Investors Are Embracing Low Cost Options…Or Are They?

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Ten New Years’ Resolutions For ETF Investors

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Ten Commandments Of ETF Investing

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UBS Launches Alerian MLP Infrastructure Index (MLPI)

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Inside The Five Most Expensive ETFs

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