ETF Database » DMM

Checking In On Ten Major ETF Launches From 2009

Michael Johnston — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:15:20 +0000

Last year saw more than 100 new product launches, ranging from plain vanilla equity and bond funds to ETFs offering exposure to exotic new investment strategies and asset classes previously available only to a limited slice of the investing community. The innovation that has made ETFs a popular alternative to mutual funds seems ready to continue through2010. Based on discussions with industry executives and others covering the industry, it seems like a safe bet that 2010 will shatter existing records for new ETF launches. But there has also been some concern over saturation in the ETF industry, as well more than 100 funds currently have less than $10 million in assets. Hype around the launch of new products doesn’t always translate into sustained investor demand. While many investors and advisors are looking forward to some of the exciting products in the pipeline for 2010, we take a look back, checking [...]

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MacroShares Shutters UMM, DMM

Michael Johnston — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:36:45 +0000

Today is the last day of trading for the two exchange-traded products from MacroShares, following an announcement from the company that the MacroShares Major Metro Housing Up Trust (UMM) and MacroShares Major Metro Housing Down Trust (DMM) had reached an early termination trigger by failing to accumulate at least $50 million in assets. The registration statements for the products provide for a maturity date of November 25 2014, but allow early termination when “the amount of cash and treasuries on deposit in the Up Trust and/or Down Trust is less than fifty (50) million dollars per trust on any business day and we elect, in our discretion, to terminate the paired trusts.” Recently, UMM and DMM had aggregate assets of about $20 million. On January 6, a final distribution payment will be made to UMM and DMM shareholders of record as of December 31 based on the underlying values of [...]

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Five ETFs For The Next Recession

Michael Johnston — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:00:36 +0000

Despite still rising unemployment, abysmal consumer confidence, and signs of ongoing crises around the world, there is little doubt, at least technically speaking, that the recession is finally over in most of the world. The downturn proved to be far more severe and prolonged than many had imagined, leaving its mark on even the most conservative of investors. Diversification across asset classes provided little benefit, as bonds and real estate fell along with equity markets. Geographical diversification also did little to protect investor assets, as correlations between most developed and emerging markets shot towards 1.0. But not all investments saw huge losses during the most recent recession. Some actually enjoyed tremendous gains, benefiting from strong negative correlations with traditional asset classes and bucking the trend to deliver positive results. Perhaps the best-known example is the Black Swan Fund run by 36 South Investment Managers Ltd. that delivered tremendous returns during [...]

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The Definitive Guide To Real Estate ETFs: Real Estate ETF Investing 101

Michael Johnston — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:05:06 +0000

Once considered a vital “return enhancer” in almost every portfolio, real estate as an asset class has fallen out of favor with investors following its spectacular collapse during (and role in causing) the recent global economic downturn. Real estate was historically embraced because of its potential for delivering excess returns in bull property markets and low correlation with traditional stock and bond investments. But as default rates skyrocketed, values plummeted, and correlations went to 1.0, asset managers have sold off real property and reallocated investor portfolios to equities and fixed income. Despite its fall from grace, real estate is beginning to creep back into portfolios, as investors regain their appetite for risky assets (we include a small allocation to real estate in several of our All-ETF Model Portfolios). Real estate ETFs have seen cash inflows of more than $3 billion year-to-date, reflecting perhaps a preference for achieving diversified exposure within [...]

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Five ETFs For A Double Dip Recession

Michael Johnston — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:00:34 +0000

March 9 may very well go on to become a day that lives in infamy, the point at which the U.S. stock markets bottomed out and the economy turned the corner. To this point, it looks to be the point at which investors finally put the worst recession in a generation behind them and a recovery began. But despite the recent rally, many analysts believe that the current recovery lacks support from fundamentals, pointing to historically high pricing multiples, still rising unemployment rates, dips in consumer confidence, and stimulus programs that have encouraged further indebtedness for many Americans as evidence that we’re not out of the woods yet. And it’s not only the well-known bears spreading doom and gloom this time around. Jeremy Grantham sees a market that is 25% overvalued, while others see a correction of 40% coming. Analysts at Morgan Stanley recently expressed their belief that asset prices [...]

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Residential Housing ETFs Paint A Rosy Picture

Michael Johnston — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:11:43 +0000

When MacroShares launched its most recent paired fund offerings earlier this year, it did so in a very interesting housing environment. Home prices in many of the country’s largest markets, including Florida, California, and Arizona, had seen sharp declines over the last year, and it seemed that there was no end in sight. In the weeks following the launch of the MacroShares Major Metro Housing Up (UMM) and Down (DMM), investor sentiment plummeted, which sent DMM skyward and UMM dropping like a stone. But we’ve seen a sharp reversal in recent weeks, and in yet another sign that the worst is behind us, these funds appear to be showing that the housing market is expected to make a modest recovery in coming years. A New Take On ETFs MacroShares are similar to traditional exchange-traded products in many ways, but feature a few nuances that separates them as well. UMM and [...]

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ETF Hall Of Shame: Nine Exchange-Traded Debacles

Michael Johnston — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:00:31 +0000

Over the past several years, exchange-traded funds have enjoyed a tremendous surge in popularity, passing many major milestones as they were embraced by retail and institutional investors alike. Once comprised solely of “plain vanilla” products tracking well-known equity indexes, the ETF industry has evolved at an incredible pace in recent years, and now offers investors exposure to nearly every corner of the investable market. Along the way, we’ve seen brilliant innovations (such as leveraged ETFs, “intelligent” ETFs, and actively-managed ETFs, just to name a few) and a plethora of new fund launches (at last count, there were 850 ETFs in the ETFdb Database). But it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows along the way. There have been a number of missteps along the way as issuers aggressively launched and promoted funds for which the market had no appetite. With ETF issuers pitching so many new products to investors, it is [...]

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Checking In On MacroShares Housing ETFs

Michael Johnston — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:20:41 +0000

It’s been a little more than a month since MacroShares jumped back into the ETF game with the introduction of the Major Metro Housing Up (UMM) and Major Metro Housing Down (DMM) exchange-traded products. Shortly before launching the Up/Down housing funds, MacroShares had pulled the plug on similar paired funds offering exposure to crude oil prices – MacroShares $100 Oil Up (UOY) and $100 Oil Down (DOY) – due to the inability to attract a certain level of assets. UOY and DOY were actually the reincarnation of similar products that were initially offered in 2008 but closed down when oil prices skyrocketed, causing assets to shift completely into the up fund. So how are the new MacroShares products faring this time around? Unique ETP Model It’s safe to say the the current MacroShares products are unlike any other exchange-traded products on the market today. The funds are created in pairs, [...]

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Edward Jones Discontinues Sale Of Leveraged ETFs

Michael Johnston — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:38:26 +0000

The swelling controversy over the risks associated with leveraged ETFs has apparently caused its first casualty. St. Louis-based Edward Jones & Co., the prominent financial services firm, decided during a regular review of its products in June to stop selling leveraged funds, citing the fact that they are “one of the most misunderstood and potentially dangerous types of ETFs,” according to mutual fund research analyst Katie Martin. Edward Jones prepared a report titled “Not All ETFs Are Created Equal” that highlights the potential pitfalls with these complex financial instruments. “Investors also need to recognize that leveraged ETFs have an increased potential for capital gains distributions and significantly higher expense ratios than the traditionally broadly based stock market ETFs, negating some of the benefits of purchasing an ETF,” the report said. Edward Jones’ decision to drop the product line comes as calls for regulation of leveraged ETFs are reaching a fever pitch. [...]

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Direxion Launches Leveraged Real Estate ETFs

Michael Johnston — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 06:05:51 +0000

Direxion, the ETF issuer known for pioneering and popularizing 3x leveraged ETFs, has added two new funds: Daily Real Estate Bull 3x Shares (DRN) and Daily Real Estate Bear 3x Shares (DRV). Both new ETFs, which began trading last week, track the MSCI U.S. REIT Index, a broad-based benchmark that represents approximately 85% of the U.S. REIT Index. DRN and DRV are Direxion’s first real estate ETF offerings. The firm has about 20 ETFs offering multi-directional exposure to various equity markets, as well as four funds tracking Treasury indexes. Both new Direxion funds will have expense ratios of 0.95%. Vanguard‘s REIT ETF (VNQ), which tracks the MSCI U.S. REIT Index, is down approximately 16% this year, and nearly 50% over the last twelve months. ProShares, Direxion’s main competitor in the leveraged ETF business, currently offers the UltraShort Real Estate (SRS) and Ultra Real Estate (URE), which are based on the Dow Jones U.S. [...]

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ETF Database » DMM

Checking In On Ten Major ETF Launches From 2009

Related Posts:

MacroShares Shutters UMM, DMM

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Five ETFs For The Next Recession

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The Definitive Guide To Real Estate ETFs: Real Estate ETF Investing 101

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Five ETFs For A Double Dip Recession

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Residential Housing ETFs Paint A Rosy Picture

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ETF Hall Of Shame: Nine Exchange-Traded Debacles

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Checking In On MacroShares Housing ETFs

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Edward Jones Discontinues Sale Of Leveraged ETFs

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Direxion Launches Leveraged Real Estate ETFs

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