ETF Database » IPE

Saving For College, ETF Style: An ETF-Friendly 529 Plan

Michael Johnston — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:00:43 +0000

The ETF industry has been routinely praised for its innovation over the last several years, which is no doubt a contributing factor to the surge in interest and assets. Generally, reference to such innovation relates to the growth in the product lineup, as issuers of all sizes have launched a number of creative, first-to-market products over the past few years that have dramatically opened up the asset classes and investment strategies available through the exchange-traded structures [see also Free Report: How To Pick The Right ETF Every Time]. But there are other aspects of the industry that deserve credit for exciting new developments as well. While ETFs are still hard to find in most 401(k) account and other retirement plans, they are now readily accessible in a popular college savings account; a program from State Street allows new parents to use ETFs in a college savings plan for children, through an [...]

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TIPS ETFs: Looking Beyond TIP

Michael Johnston — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:45:54 +0000

When governments around the world began implementing massive stimulus plans to lift the global economy from a deep recession, opinions were sharply divided. While it seems that these plans have been successful in the short run–as evidenced by the remarkable rally over the last 13 months–some investors have become increasingly concerned about the long-term impact of such significant spending. Most of these concerns have centered around the prospect of runaway inflation resulting from a huge increase in the money supply. While current inflation at nearly zero, almost everyone believed that some upward movement was inevitable, but the magnitude of the increase was the subject of much debate; estimates ranged from the high end of the Fed’s “comfort zone” to well into double digits. A recent study from the Wall Street Journal now suggests that economists are “evenly divided between those who fear inflation will accelerate over the next year and [...]

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Low Cost ETFs: Complete List Of The Cheapest Exchange-Traded Funds

Michael Johnston — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:15:04 +0000

The reasons for the rise of the ETF industry are numerous: intraday liquidity, (potentially) superior tax efficiency, and enhanced transparency relative to traditional actively-managed mutual funds have all contributed to the billions of dollars of inflows that these funds have seen in recent years. But the real attraction for most ETF investors is the reduced expenses these products offer, often only a fraction of the fees charged by mutual funds. But between ETFs, expense ratios can vary significantly, ranging from 0.08% (for several Schwab ETFs) to a whopping 1.50% (for the DENT actively-managed ETF). For investors looking to minimize expenses and pursue an indexing strategy in favor of active management, investing in ETFs is only the first step. In order to assist cost-conscious investors, we’ve assembled the cheapest ETF options for almost every asset class and sub-asset class. Each of the 900-plus ETFs currently included in the ETF Screener were [...]

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Don’t Put All Your AGG’s In One Basket

Michael Johnston — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:18:55 +0000

As the ETF industry has expanded in recent years, a significant percentage of the expansion has come from equity ETFs embracing new regions and investment styles and from commodity funds offering small investors exposure to resources that were previously available only to the ultra-rich (although position limits are threatening to restrict access to numerous commodity funds). Despite the importance of fixed income instruments in investor portfolios (as proven by their performance relative to stocks during the recent downturn), fixed income ETFs lag behind their equity counterparts in terms of number of funds. According to our ETF Database, there are currently about 70 fixed income ETFs, compared to more than 600 equity funds. As worries about the ability of fixed income investments to perform inside of an exchange-traded structure have been shown to be unfounded, we are beginning to see an increase in bond ETF activity. According to State Street’s July [...]

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TIPS From PIMCO: Bond Giant’s Latest ETF Offering

Michael Johnston — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:53:11 +0000

Pimco, which made major waves when it launched its first exchange-traded fund in June, has introduced its second fund, the Pimco 1-5 Year U.S. TIPS Index Fund (STPZ). When Pimco filed to launch its 1-3 Year U.S. Treasury Fund (TUZ), it also filed for approval on six additional indexed ETFs, including: 3-7 Year Treasury Index Fund 7-15 Year Treasury Index Fund 15+ Year Treasury Index Fund Broad U.S. TIPS Index Fund Short Maturity U.S. TIPS Index Fund Long Maturity U.S. TIPS Index Fund Not surprisingly, Pimco has elected to launch the short maturity U.S. TIPS product as its second ETF. With concerns about the intermediate- and long-term impacts of the massive stimulus plans implemented by the U.S. and other developed nations, many investors are bracing for a wave of inflation (we’re not talking about the just the high end of the Fed’s “comfort zone” either). The TIPS ETF arena is [...]

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ETF Database » IPE

Saving For College, ETF Style: An ETF-Friendly 529 Plan

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TIPS ETFs: Looking Beyond TIP

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Low Cost ETFs: Complete List Of The Cheapest Exchange-Traded Funds

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Don’t Put All Your AGG’s In One Basket

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TIPS From PIMCO: Bond Giant’s Latest ETF Offering

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