GlobalShares, a division of London based Old Mutual, launched the FTSE Developed Countries Ex-U.S. Fund (GSD) on Thursday, doubling the size of its ETF product line. GSD will track the FTSE Developed ex-U.S. Index, a benchmark already covered by the Schwab International Equity ETF (SCHF). The new GlobalShares ETF will also compete with the iShares MSCI EAFE Index ETF (EFA) and the Vanguard Europe Pacific ETF (VEA), both of which track the MSCI EAFE Index and hold a combined $41 billion in assets. [click to continue…]
Usually the monthly release of ETF trading data from the National Stock Exchange provides a good opportunity for those covering the industry to feed the hype machine just a little more. Big asset growth and cash inflows have become as certain as death and taxes, with each month adding momentum to the runaway freight train that is the ETF industry. [click to continue…]
Fidelity Investments announced today that it will offer its retail customers commission-free online trades for a suite of 25 iShares ETFs. The funds included in the commission-free platform include ETFs in all nine domestic equity style/size categories, as well as international equity and fixed income options. “Fidelity has partnered with the leading ETF provider in [...]
The tremendous increase in the number of ETFs launched in recent years has seemingly brought cheap, efficient access to nearly every corner of the globe within reach of U.S. investors. There are now funds devoted to Vietnam, Turkey, Israel, Colombia, among countless others. But while the breadth of international options has expanded significantly, the exposure [...]
Following a meltdown in the U.S. financial markets that sparked a global recession, many investors have begun to question traditional asset allocation strategies that call for a significant weighting to American stocks. While emerging markets have seen huge cash inflows as a result of this trend, developed markets beyond North America have also benefited. For [...]
Over the last year, leveraged ETFs have been the subject of intense scrutiny from a number of parties, including regulatory agencies, state governments, broker-dealers, individual investors, and even class action lawyers. While several aspects of leveraged ETFs have been thoroughly analyzed and debated, perhaps no issue has drawn more attention than the effects of compounding [...]
The old saying “any publicity is good publicity” certainly seems to ring true in the ETF industry. Over the last several months, leveraged ETFs have been the subject of intense scrutiny, first from individual investors and analysts, and more recently from regulatory agencies such as FINRA. Despite allegations that these funds are dishonest products that [...]
Total ETF industry assets increased by $5.7 billion, or about 1.0%, during the month of June, driven by both new fund offerings and creation of additional units in existing funds. Among the other highlights from the monthly statistical bulletin released by SSgA:
Although it’s generally not released until the middle of the following month, State Street’s monthly ETF snapshot always makes for interesting reading. As I thumbed through the May issue this afternoon, I had a number of “yeah, but…” moments – although completely accurate, some of the stats don’t tell the whole story. But before we [...]
Old Mutual has filed a registration statement for five new ETFs, each of which tracks an index maintained by the FTSE group. Old Mutual, founded in 1845 in South Africa, provides long-term savings solutions, asset management services, and general insurance services in 38 countries worldwide. The new ETFs include:
The exchange-traded fund industry has enjoyed explosive growth in recent years due to the significant advantages of these investment vehicles over traditional mutual funds and individual securities. Perhaps most notably, ETFs offer investors a cost-efficient mechanism to gain access to a diversified basket of securities. ETFs allow investors to create a well-diversified investment portfolio by holding [...]
It’s been almost 17 years since two economists at the University of Chicago, Eugene Fama and Kenneth French, published an attack on the stock price measure of risk known as “beta,” prompting “Beta is Dead” headlines from numerous financial publications. While these obituaries may have been a bit premature (beta is still widely taught in university [...]
