ETFs trended higher this week but finished flat on Friday as the markets digested conflicting data reports. This came after retail sales rose by 0.3% but the consumer sentiment index headed lower, leaving investors to wonder which direction the American consumer will take the economy. In other news, Obama is set to nominate Janet Yellen, the San Francisco Fed President, for the role of vice-chairman of the Federal Reserve. The move for Yellen is seen as an attempt to tilt the Fed in a more dovish direction. Below, we offer our picks for the week’s most important and interesting ETF stories from around the Web: [click to continue…]
It’s difficult to put a finger on the exact cause of the recent surge in popularity of commodity investing. More than likely, the boom is attributable to a number of different factors. Correlation between international equity markets (and even between stocks and bonds) has surged in recent years, increasing both the importance and difficulty of adding non-correlated assets to investor portfolios. Given the relatively weak correlation with other asset classes, commodities have found a home in many investors’ portfolios. Moreover, unprecedented injections of liquidity into the financial system have created anxiety over a coming uptick in inflation that could erode returns to stocks and fixed income instruments. Commodities have historically served as an effective inflation hedge, and many are once again turning to natural resources to protect assets from a surge in the CPI. [click to continue…]
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 [...]
Commodities are the new black in the world of investing, thanks in no small part to the rise of ETFs as the tool of choice in more and more portfolios. Commodity ETFs saw cash inflows of more than $30 billion in 2009, as total assets more than doubled on the year. According to the ETF [...]
Michael Johnston, senior analyst at ETF Database, appeared on live television this morning to discuss a few ETFs that would serve as possible hedges against inflation, including:
WisdomTree Dreyfus Emerging Currency Fund (CEW)
IndexIQ CPI Inflation Hedged ETF (CPI)
Claymore/Clear Global Timber Fund (CUT)
Market Vectors TR Gold Miners Fund (GDX)
IndexIQ ARB Global Resources ETF (GRES)
Watch the full interview [...]
Over the last year, U.S. equity markets have staged a remarkable recovery as volatility has plummeted and the emergency stimulus measures implemented amidst heated debate appear to have had their intended effect. Indications that unemployment may be close to peaking and that consumer confidence is on the rise once again only add fuel to the [...]
IndexIQ, the ETF issuer behind the first hedge fund ETFs, has brought its fifth exchange-traded product to market, the IQ ARB Merger Arbitrage ETF. The fund began trading Tuesday on the NYSE Arca Exchange under the clever ticker MNA. The new ETF will track the IQ ARB Merger Arbitrage Index, a benchmark that includes global [...]
IndexIQ, the New York-based developer of alternative indexes and exchange-traded funds, has taken the first step towards launching a 130/30 ETF, filing a 40-APP application with the SEC earlier this week. IndexIQ currently maintains the IQ 130/30 Index, a rules-based benchmark that employs fundamental factors to select U.S. stocks with a long exposure of 130% [...]
Innovation is certainly nothing new in the ETF industry, as the last several years have seen the introduction of numerous asset classes, investment strategies, and geographies to the exchange-traded structure. The rise of the ETF industry has made exposure to commodities available to almost every investor, and innovation in the space has presented them with [...]
October was another busy month for the ETF industry, with the launch of several new funds, including a handful that will compete directly with well-established ETFs and some that seek to address potential regulatory issues facing traditional commodity products. Highlights from the month included:
IndexIQ, a pioneer in the hedge fund ETF industry, has expanded its product line to include two new ETFs designed to provide protection against inflation: the IQ CPI Inflation Hedged ETF (CPI) and IQ ARB Global Resources ETF (GRES). These ETFs hit the market at a time when investors are becoming increasingly concerned about the [...]
