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 ETF-focused 529 plan. [click to continue…]
State Street has made another addition to its fixed income ETF lineup, recently rolling out the SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term HighYield Bond ETF (SJNK). The new fund will target junk bonds that have less than five years remaining to maturity, thereby delivering a unique combination of low interest rate risk with significant credit risk. [...]
Equity markets have gotten off to a solid start in the new year, although looming Euro zone debt woes continue to breed some degree of pessimism and one piece of bad news from overseas is very well capable of sparking a broad sell-off that spills over onto Wall Street. The tug of war between positive [...]
[This article is a free preview of the special ETF research report Dividend ETFs In Focus: Finding The Best Yield . ETFdb Pro members can read the entire report here; sign up for a free 7-day trial to get your copy] Dividend investing is one of the oldest and most popular strategies amongst retail and institutional equity investors on Wall [...]
Equity markets got off to a stronger than expected start this week as investors refrained from selling, and instead stepped in to buy up stocks on the cheap and push domestic indexes higher off last week’s lows. Wall Street rallied on Wednesday after a positive durable goods report boosted investor’s sentiment as orders rose by [...]
The ETF industry’s strong growth in recent years has led to innovation across the board. Now, investors can find products that offer exposure to nearly every corner of global markets through a single ticker. And while many of these new options have been welcomed with open arms, investors have been wary of others. One space [...]
Equity markets struggled to pick a direction last week, fluctuating between small gains and pesky losses one day after the other. Late in the week, however, worse than expected economic data on the home front and escalating European debt woes managed to push the markets of a cliff one more time, with equity indexes sinking [...]
In recent years, ETFs have become increasing popular tools for accessing the fixed income corner of the market. The space initially grew much more slowly than equity ETFs, but investors have gradually become more comfortable with the combination of fixed income exposure and the exchange-traded structure. Innovation in the bond ETF space has been impressive [...]
Bond giant PIMCO expanded its ETF lineup to 14 products last Friday, rolling out its first ETF to offer exposure to high yield bonds. The PIMCO 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond Index Fund (HYS) will seek to replicate the BofA Merrill Lynch 0-5 Year US High Yield Constrained Index. HYS joins nine other PIMCO [...]
While many of the “first generation” of ETFs offered exposure to widely-followed equity indexes, the universe of exchange-traded products has expanded at a tremendous pace in recent years to include more than 1,200 ETPs across a number of different asset classes. More and more investors have embraced the exchange-traded structure as a vehicle for achieving [...]
Actively managed ETFs have been slow to gain traction so far among most investors for a variety of reasons. Higher than average fees, a boatload of academic evidence suggesting inability of active management to consistently generate alpha, and concerns about disclosure requirements leading to front-running opportunities have all contributed to the relatively slow adoption rate [...]
