Total ETF assets declined by almost 4% in August thanks to abysmal performances from equity markets around the globe. But the industry kept its monthly winning streak alive, managing to generate net inflows of about $2 billion during one of the worst months performance wise since late 2008. Not surprisingly, fixed income ETFs saw a surge in interest; inflows to bond products during the month topped $4.7 billion according to the latest statistics from the National Stock Exchange. And while investors fled from international stock markets (to the tune of net outflows of about $5.6 billion), U.S. equity ETFs actually saw net inflows. One interesting figure was the size of net inflows into long leveraged U.S. equity funds; this corner of the market took in more than $3 billion in new cash.
The ETF industry has enjoyed three consecutive months of net inflows; May saw about $1 billion in net outflows. [click to continue…]
As the roster of exchange-traded products has grown to nearly 1,300, many investors find themselves with the luxury of multiple options for establishing a position in a desired asset class. There are, for example, four different pharmaceutical ETFs, three homebuilder funds, and even two choices for playing the automotive industry. Once the ETF universe has [...]
Over the past few months the price of gold has soared to record highs, as investors have become increasingly fearful of an impending “double dip”, given the latest round of gloomy economic data from the U.S. coupled with Europe’s deteriorating financial health. Gold has always been a popular safe haven for investors seeking refuge during [...]
Wall Street plunged into the abyss last week as investors prepared for the worst after the ECB and Bank of Japan intervened in the markets, sending widespread waves of fear, and inducing one of the worst sell-offs that the market has seen since the dismal days of 2008. Domestic equity indexes fell over 4% on [...]
Despite a dismal month for most equity benchmarks, ETF assets climbed past the $1.1 trillion level in July thanks to another strong round of inflows into exchange-traded products. More than $13 billion flowed into ETPs last month, led by strong demand for U.S. equities and commodities. Domestic equity funds accounted for about $4.4 billion of [...]
Continuing a trend that has been playing out over the last couple years, two more issuers announced reductions to expense structures over the past few days. Teucrium, the company behind three resource-specific commodity products, announced the introduction of an expense cap on its natural gas ETF, while WisdomTree cut fees on one of its most [...]
This week saw one of the worst strings of trading sessions in nearly a year as investors have grown increasingly worried that Congress will be unable to set aside their differences and come to terms on some sort of debt deal to avoid a default. If a deal is not passed soon, major credit rating [...]
Most investors probably never expected that it would never come to this. With only days remaining until the day the government coffers supposedly go dry, a deal to avoid a default remains elusive (one would suspect the August 2 date is at least 72 hours or so in advance of a hard deadline). The back [...]
Inflation has been a particularly frustrating topic in recent months. Despite widespread predictions for a surge in CPI in the wake of unprecedented injections of liquidity into global financial markets, upward pressure on prices has not yet materialized–at least not in many developed markets. The prospect of what seems to be an inevitable outcome has [...]
Schwab was a latecomer to the ETF industry, launching its first products years after companies such as iShares and Vanguard had established themselves as pioneers in the space. But Chuck has been aggressive in playing catch-up, introducing commission-free ETF trading (a move many others have since replicated) and rock bottom expense ratios to attract cost [...]
The expansion of the ETF industry over the last several years has been truly impressive, as the product lineup has grown to more than 1,200 exchange-traded products and assets have passed the $1 trillion mark. But May marked a small step backwards, as ETF assets dipped slightly as a result of both weak equity market [...]
