ETF Database » IJH

Firstrade Offers Commission Free ETFs

Michael Johnston — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 11:00:42 +0000

Online broker Firstrade has become the latest firm to roll out a commission-free trading platform in an effort to lure ETF investors. The firm announced this week that ten ETFs would be available commission-free on its platform, including funds covering a number of asset classes and strategies. The commission-free ETFs include six Vanguard ETFs, three iShares products, and a PowerShares commodity fund: Ticker Name ETFdb Category Other Commission Free Platforms BLV Vanguard Long Term Bond ETF Total Bond Market Vanguard, TD Ameritrade BIV Vanguard Intermediate Term Bond ETF Total Bond Market Vanguard, TD Ameritrade BSV Vanguard Short Term Bond ETF Total Bond Market Vanguard, TD Ameritrade VBK Vanguard Small Cap Growth Small Cap Growth Equities Vanguard, TD Ameritrade IJH iShares S&P MidCap 400 Index Fund Mid Cap Blend Equities Fidelity, TD Ameritrade VIG Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF Large Cap Value Equities Vanguard, TD Ameritrade VWO Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF Emerging [...]

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End Of An ETF Era: VWO Surpasses EEM In Total Assets

Eric Dutram — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 16:00:44 +0000

As the ETF world continues to grow, issuers have spread out into a variety of market segments in order to obtain the coveted first-mover advantage and gain large asset bases. Yet with the rapid proliferation of the industry, many are beginning to circle back to some of the most popular market segments such as bonds, broad stock funds, or emerging market equities in order to chip away at market leaders and establish new products in these sought after spaces. While a number of new funds have sought to offer more segmented exposure, a few have focused in on price as a key way to differentiate themselves from their entrenched competitors. This has pushed many ETF issuers into a full blown price war, a development that is obviously beneficial to investors’ bottom lines. The most well-known example of this trend is arguably in the Emerging Markets ETFdb Category where the two [...]

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Free ETF Trading: Comparing All The Options

Eric Dutram — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 15:00:25 +0000

As the ETF world continues to grow, the competitive landscape continues to evolve. In recent years, a growing number of firms have attempted to differentiate themselves by offering unique exposure to asset classes and strategies not previously available–such as funds tracking the Philippine stock market or ETNs linked to the price of industrial metals such as zinc or tin. More recently, the ETF industry has witnessed escalating price wars, with multiple issuers lowering management fees in an attempt to lure cost-conscious investors. These price wars have sent expense ratios to as low as six basis points, much to the delight of investors accustomed to forking over upwards of 1.5% annually to active mutual funds. But many ETF issuers have recognized that the total cost of ETF investing goes beyond just expense ratios, and have aggressively marketed programs designed to save investors money when executing ETF trades [see The Total Cost [...]

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Are Your Cap-Weighted ETFs Leaders Or Laggards?

Cathy Carlson — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:07:03 +0000

The rapid growth of the ETF industry in recent years has altered the investment landscape in more ways than one. The low expense ratios offered by most exchange-traded products have brought increased scrutiny on active managers and called into question their ability to add value to client portfolios. The immediate diversification offered by a basket of securities has caused some to shift away from the complex research associated with individual stock picking towards more macro analysis required for tactical strategies. And as indexes have evolved from hypothetical measures of performance to essentially investable assets, the methodologies utilized in the construction and maintenance of benchmarks have become increasingly important to investors [see our database of ETF indexes]. The first generation of equity ETFs was dominated by market capitalization-weighted strategies, a methodology that involves assigning a weight to each component based on the total value of its equity. Most of the assets [...]

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Ten Shocking ETF Charts From The “Flash Crash”

Michael Johnston — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:30:08 +0000

An already tumultuous day took a terrifying turn in afternoon trading on Thursday, as several major U.S. indexes lost multiple percentage points in a matter of minutes before reclaiming big chunks of the ground lost. At 2:40 on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down about 415 points, putting it on pace for one of its worst days of the year. But the worst was yet to come; by 2:47, just seven minutes later, the Dow had plummeted another 583 points, putting it down nearly 1,000 points for the day. In the next ten minutes, the Dow jumped more than 600 points; by 2:57 it was down “only” 388 points on the day. The steep decline immediately sparked speculation on Wall Street. Anxiety had been building over the deteriorating situation in Greece, but there seemed to be more at work behind the sudden plunge (see Six ETFs To Watch [...]

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Advanced ETF Investing: Acquired Fund Fees

Michael Johnston — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:01:52 +0000

Once investors have narrowed down the universe of 900+ exchange-traded products to those that could potentially match the risk/return profile they’re seeking, the real work begins (see Five Free Tools For Finding The Right ETF). When comparing ETFs to find the best fit for a portfolio, one of the metrics most frequently analyzed is the fee structure. While differences in expense ratios may not have a material impact on short-term trades, the long-term impact of compounding costs for buy-and-holders can be significant (see other metrics to consider when comparing ETFs). In most cases, comparison of fees is a relatively straightforward process; the expense ratio for each ETF is readily available from the issuer Web site (or for download from the ETF Screener). But occasionally ETFs will display multiple expense ratios or something called “acquired fees & expenses” (the adjacent image is from the home page for the iShares S&P Aggressive [...]

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Revenue Weighted ETFs Continue Impressive Run

Michael Johnston — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:47:17 +0000

The rise of the ETF industry has changed a lot about the business of investing. It has altered the way investors look at expenses, making it difficult to justify handing over 200 basis points (or more) each year to an active manager who can’t regularly beat a benchmark. It has also expanded the universe of investable securities; asset classes that were once available only to the biggest and richest investors (such as hedge fund strategies and commodities) are now readily available to anyone with an online broker. ETFs have also changed the way investors look at indexes. When indexes were primarily benchmarks used to measure manager performance, few gave much thought to the rules or investment theses governing the construction and maintenance. But as indexes have evolved into (essentially) investable assets, the underlying methodologies have been more carefully scrutinized. As a result of this increased scrutiny, some of the flaws [...]

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Fidelity To Offer Commission-Free Trading On 25 iShares ETFs

Michael Johnston — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:33:13 +0000

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 market to bring investors the best brokerage offering in the industry today,” said Kathleen A. Murphy, president of Personal Investing at Fidelity Investments. “Simply put, we’re offering the broadest selection of commission-free ETFs from the undisputed ETF leader, and it’s only available through Fidelity.” The iShares ETFs will be available for commission-free trading beginning tomorrow. Commission-Free iShares ETFs Value Blend Growth Large Cap IVE, IWD IVV, IWB, IWV IVW, IWF Mid Cap IJJ IJH IJK Small Cap IJS, IWN IJR, IWM IJT, IWO EAFE EFA, SCZ Emerging Markets EEM Global ACWI Total Bond Market [...]

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PowerShares Plans Small Cap Sector ETFs

Michael Johnston — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:06:55 +0000

After launching more than 120 new funds last year, the ETF industry seems poised to continue its rapid growth in 2010. Numerous issuers have big plans for this year, with the number of new product launches expected to once again exceed 100 and perhaps even top last year’s results. A recent SEC filing shed some light on PowerShares’ plans for future growth, revealing that the Chicagoland issuer may be looking to launch as many as ten sector-specific small cap ETFs. The funds highlighted in the filing include: PowerShares S&P SmallCap Consumer Discretionary Portfolio PowerShares S&P SmallCap Consumer Staples Portfolio PowerShares S&P SmallCap Energy Portfolio PowerShares S&P SmallCap Financials Portfolio PowerShares S&P SmallCap Health Care Portfolio PowerShares S&P SmallCap Industrials Portfolio PowerShares S&P SmallCap Information Technology Portfolio PowerShares S&P SmallCap Materials Portfolio PowerShares S&P SmallCap Telecommunication Services Portfolio PowerShares S&P SmallCap Utilities Portfolio Each of the proposed funds would be linked [...]

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Beyond MDY: Three Outperforming Mid Cap ETFs

Michael Johnston — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:00:06 +0000

As 2009 draws to a close, it appears that this will be another “year of the mid cap.” Although equities of all sizes have posted strong gains this year (particularly when compared to 2008), mid caps have led the way, and mid cap ETFs have generally outperformed their small and large cap peers. Some investors take a “barbell” approach to the domestic equity portion of their portfolios, allocating assets primarily to large cap and small cap ETFs, and anticipating that the risk and return profile of mid caps will fall somewhere in between. While they fall between these two groups in size, the same can’t always be said for performance: mid caps have been known to deliver returns both excess and inferior returns. Mid Cap ETFs ETF YTD Performance RWK 51.0% FNX 45.8% CZA 42.1% MDY 35.1% As of 12/21/09 For investors looking to gain mid cap exposure, the most [...]

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ETF Database » IJH

Firstrade Offers Commission Free ETFs

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End Of An ETF Era: VWO Surpasses EEM In Total Assets

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PowerShares Plans Small Cap Sector ETFs

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