Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have burst on to the scene in the last few years, raking in hundreds of billions of dollars in assets and prompting a major shift towards indexing strategies in the process. ETFs have empowered financial advisors (FAs), registered investment advisors (RIAs), Chief Financial Officers (CFOs), money managers, and retail investors to take greater control over their portfolios, pushing down fees and maxing out tax efficiency in the process. While ETFs appear quite simple on the surface, these securities can be quite complex. In order to get the most out of ETFs, there’s a lot that investors need to know about the structure, opportunities, and limitations of these securities.
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iShares continued its introduction of ETFs targeting high yielding asset classes with the debut of two more funds on the BATS Exchange this week. The Global HighYield Corporate Bond Fund (GHYG) completes a trio of junk bond ETFs to debut this week that target markets outside the U.S., while the Morningstar Multi-Asset Income Index Fund [...]
Bullish momentum has cooled off a bit on Wall Street this week although the good news keep coming in. Investors were happy to see the latest home builders index release on Monday, although a slightly worse-than-expected existing home sales report on Wednesday managed to tip indexes lower. Vank Eck has laid down the groundwork for an intriguing equity fund that allows [...]
Everyone is familiar with the SPDR S&P 500 Fund (SPY). SPY is by far the most popular ETF in the world, with nearly $100 billion in assets and an ADV around 150 million. Those numbers ensure that this is not only the largest ETF in the world, but one of the largest funds in the investing space. [...]
iShares, the issuer behind the most popular product in the Preferred Stock ETFdb Category, debuted an international counterpart to PFF this week. The recently-launched S&P International Preferred Stock ETF (IPFF) will be linked to an index consisting of preferred stock from ex-U.S. developed market issuers, with a hefty allocation to Canadian banks. IPFF becomes the [...]
The latest ETF industry data from the National Stock Exchange is out, and after a small step back in May, exchange-traded products resumed their upward trajectory in June. Total ETP inflows totaled more than $8 billion last month, after May saw about $800 million in outflows–attributable in large part to big outflows from the S&P [...]
For investors looking to generate current returns from the equity portion of their portfolio, there is no shortage of exchange-traded products offering attractive dividend yields in the current environment. From ETFs linked to dividend-weighted indexes to those that focus on companies with stellar distribution histories to simply sector-specific funds in high yield corners of the [...]
Wednesday marks the first day of trading for another Global X ETF, as the company introduced a fund offering exposure to a basket of preferred stocks from Canadian issuers that trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The Global X Canada Preferred ETF (CNPF) seeks to replicate the Solactive Canada Preferred Index, a benchmark that includes [...]
iShares hasn’t launched any new ETFs since rolling out its short-term TIPS fund (STIP) in early December, but the issuer responsible for close to 45% of all U.S. ETF assets continues to expand its product pipeline. The San Francisco-based ETF giant recently detailed plans for a international preferred stock ETF in an SEC filing; the [...]
U.S. ETF assets topped $1 trillion for the first time in December, as a year-end rally in global equity markets and another strong month of inflows pushed the industry past the milestone. ETF assets also finished the year above this key mark, according to the latest data from the National Stock Exchange, representing an increase [...]
After lingering in the background of the ETF industry for the last several years, fixed income funds have stepped up in recent months to become one of the primary drivers of growth. Through the first seven months of 2010, cash inflows to ETFs totaled $49 billion. Of this amount, more than $23 billion has been [...]
