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BRIC ETFs And Missed Opportunity

Michael Johnston — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:00:07 +0000

Most risky asset classes have generally posted impressive three year performance figures at this point, delivering huge gains in the 36 months or so since equity markets bottomed out during the last financial crisis. Just about every equity index is well in positive territory for the latest three year stretch, thanks to improving economic fundamentals and a general return of risk appetite among investors–even if some jitters remain. Generally speaking, emerging markets have lead the way higher over this period; these securities were among the biggest losers during the sell-offs of late 2008 and early 2009, so they had the most ground to reclaim once markets finally bottomed out and began to head higher. So it’s no surprise that BRIC ETFs have some eye-popping performance figures; the MSCI BRIC Index Fund (BKF) is up about 105% over the past three years, while EEB and BIK have generally similar results. Investors [...]

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UBS Launches Risk On / Risk Off ETNs

Michael Johnston — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:00:49 +0000

UBS, the issuer behind one of the broadest lineups of ETNs available to U.S. investors, continued the aggressive expansion of its product lineup this week with the introduction of two unique offerings. The company rolled out a pair of blunt instruments designed to be used in high level “risk on / risk off” trades, a term that has become popular in recent months as risky assets have exhibited strong correlations with one another and so-called “safe havens” have thrived whenever uncertainty pops up. The new ETRACS Fisher Gartman Risk On On ETN (ONN) will seek to replicate the Fisher-Gartman Risk Index, a benchmark that includes long positions in various risky asset classes such as stocks and commodities and short positions in traditional safe haven investments such as sovereign bonds. The index consists of 150% long positions combined with 50% short exposure, resulting in a net 100% long portfolio: Sector Long [...]

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Here’s An Idea: Small-Cap BRIC ETF

Michael Johnston — Fri, 20 May 2011 11:00:59 +0000

As the ETF industry has continued to expand at a breakneck pace, the introduction of first-to-market products has become somewhat commonplace. Well more than 100 ETFs have debuted this year, many of them targeting an asset class or investment strategy not previously accessible within the ETF wrapper. Recent weeks have seen the debut of the first car ETF, a pure play fishing ETF, and a bond ETF dedicated to debt of Latin America issuers. Unlike the reaction to hyper-targeted funds that have debuted in years past, investors have given many of these niche products a relatively warm reception. In addition to the hundreds of new launches, the ETF product pipeline has continued to fill as well. SEC filings have accelerated in recent weeks, with issuers planning a wide variety of additional funds that offer sector-specific exposure to international economies and tools for playing narrow investment themes withing the U.S. market. [...]

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BRIC ETF Investing: Small Cap Edition

Michael Johnston — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:00:52 +0000

In recent years interest in achieving exposure to emerging markets has intensified tremendously, as the developing economies of the world have established themselves as the clear leaders of GDP growth while advanced economies have struggled to regain their footing. While there are dozens of countries that fall under “emerging” status, exposure to this investment strategy has generally focused around the BRIC bloc that includes four economies expected to see their contribution to global GDP swell in coming decades. The BRIC economies–Brazil, Russia, India, and China–have very little in common in terms of geography, culture, or even the makeup of their respective economies. The term was originally coined by a Goldman Sachs economist who had never visited three of the four countries but believed that the collective economies would grow to eventually surpass the six largest western economies in terms of economic size and importance. What seemed like a ludicrously bold [...]

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Does South Korea Belong In Your Emerging Markets ETF?

Eric Dutram — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 14:00:38 +0000

When considering the equity allocation of an investor portfolio, perhaps the most common bifurcation made is between developed and emerging markets. The distinction between developed and emerging markets has become a hot topic in recent years thanks to the tremendous gaps in growth and risk between the two groups. As developed markets have struggled to get on track thanks to mounting debt burdens and rising unemployment, emerging markets have raced ahead and posted eye-popping growth figures thanks to favorable demographic shifts and a swelling middle class. To many investors the distinction between these two asset classes may seem straightforward. Developed markets are advanced economies with higher quality of life, sophisticated financial markets, and generally wealthier populations—such as the U.S. and Western Europe. Emerging economies are home to financial markets with fewer investor protections and standardized processes and to populations that tend to be less educated and more rural. But determining [...]

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Guggenheim Plans International Equity ETFs

Michael Johnston — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 12:00:35 +0000

Guggenheim has been focusing on the fixed income portion of its ETF lineup in recent weeks, but the product development team at the Chicagoland issuer is also busy laying the groundwork for new equity ETFs as well [see Are Bond ETFs Broken?]. The firm recently filed details with the SEC for four international stock funds, including multiple dividend-focused product and a new spin on BRIC investing. The proposed ETFs include: ABC High Dividend Yield ETF: This ETF would be linked to the BNY Mellon ABC Index, a benchmark that is comprised of about 30 U.S.-listed ADRs of companies from Australia, Brazil, and Canada (thus the “ABC”) that have paid dividends in the past two years. There are currently no ETFs offering exposure to the “ABC bloc” though there are multiple options for each of the component economies [use the ETF Country Exposure Tool]. BMAC Commodity Producers ETF: This fund would [...]

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Emerging Market ETFs: Seven Factors Every Investor Should Consider

Eric Dutram — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 14:30:53 +0000

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 in government spending through austerity and establishing a platform for sustainable economic growth. And in Japan, the central bank has taken steps to weaken the currency in order to keep the country’s important exporters competitive on the global stage. However, the country’s debt levels now approach 200% of GDP–by far one of the highest levels in the developed world–raising all sorts of red flags around a market that has been stick in economic quicksand for the better part of two decades. While a few advanced markets have managed to avoid this malaise–namely those with significant [...]

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Claymore Changes Name To Guggenheim Funds

Eric Dutram — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 18:02:26 +0000

As the ETF world continues to expand at an impressive pace, a number of companies have sought to bring their own lineup of funds to the market in order to grab a piece of this rapidly-increasing pie. However, some have taken a different approach to gaining an ETF foothold, preferring to buy up existing issuers with established product lines. That’s the strategy used by Guggenheim, which has purchased both Rydex and Claymore over the last year. Earlier today, the company announced that it was rebranding Claymore’s ETF products under the Guggenheim Funds name. All of the ETFs will retain their ticker symbols and CUSIP numbers; only the name “Claymore” will change. “Taking on the Guggenheim name is a significant milestone as we continue to develop our U.S. retail effort,” said Steven A. Baffico, Senior Managing Director at Guggenheim in an e-mail. “From the outset, Claymore has been a first-to-market provider [...]

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Ticking Time Bomb Under EEM

Michael Johnston — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:00:54 +0000

In recent weeks, increased international scrutiny over Israel’s blockade of Gaza and conflicts with vessels carrying aid to the impoverished area have overshadowed a rather unique economic accomplishment. Israel was recently reclassified from “emerging” to “developed” market status by index provider MSCI Barra, the firm responsible for creating and maintaining the benchmarks behind many popular exchange-traded products. The upgrade had been in the works for some time; MSCI first announced that Israeli markets met all the qualifications for developed status last June. Such an announcement is undoubtedly a positive development for a country that has made great strides in improving quality of life indicators and market transparency while rooting out corruption. So the impact on Israeli stocks as the news broke was at first a bit perplexing; the iShares MSCI Israel Investable Market Index Fund (EIS) slid more than 4% when the initial announcement was made, a far bigger loss [...]

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First Trust Puts A Twist On BRIC, Launches “BICK” ETF

Eric Dutram — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 13:52:25 +0000

First Trust announced the launch of a new index fund tracking the economies of the BICK economies, a twist on the popular BRIC bloc of major emerging markets. This new fund also includes exposure to Brazil, India and China, but swaps Russia for South Korea. As such, BICK offers an emerging markets alternative that avoids the often volatile (and commodity-dependent) Russian economy for the more stable South Korean one. Furthermore, South Korea has emerged as one of the world’s leaders in the technology sector, and may be able to capitalize on its close location to rising neighbors in North Asia in a way that Russia never could. The First Trust BICK Index Fund (BICK) is designed to track the most liquid and largest companies in the four BICK countries by following the ISE BICK Index. For inclusion in the ISE BICK Index, each component security must have a market capitalization [...]

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ETF Database » EEB

BRIC ETFs And Missed Opportunity

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UBS Launches Risk On / Risk Off ETNs

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Here’s An Idea: Small-Cap BRIC ETF

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BRIC ETF Investing: Small Cap Edition

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Does South Korea Belong In Your Emerging Markets ETF?

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Guggenheim Plans International Equity ETFs

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Claymore Changes Name To Guggenheim Funds

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Ticking Time Bomb Under EEM

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