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101 ETF Lessons Every Financial Advisor Should Learn

Michael Johnston — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:00:06 +0000

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. Below we outline just about everything you need to know about ETFs, from the basics to the more sophisticated aspects of these products. 1. ETFs Are Tax Efficient One of the biggest advantages of ETFs is their tax-efficient structure; [...]

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iShares Launches International Preferred Stock ETF (IPFF)

Michael Johnston — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:37:05 +0000

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 sixth U.S.-listed ETF to tap into this asset class, and just the second to offer access to preferred securities offered in developed markets outside the U.S. Preferred Stock 101 Preferred stock is classified as equity, but these securities exhibit characteristics of both stocks and bonds. Preferred stock generally carries no voting rights and offers a fixed dividend payout that is subordinate to debt payments but senior to dividends on common stock. Some preferred stock is convertible to common equity at a predetermined ratio, a feature that allows investors to maintain some potential for upside appreciation [...]

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Three Equity ETFs Crushed By Monday’s Massacre

Eric Dutram — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:00:22 +0000

American equity markets had a day to remember during Monday’s trading session as major benchmarks plunged across the board thanks to Standard & Poor’s downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt. The ratings agency dethroned the world’s largest economy from its AAA rating one notch to AA+, causing a ripple effect throughout the market as investors reassessed risk and the likelihood of another slowdown or more downgrades in the future. Thanks to these worries, the Dow plummeted by nearly 600 points in the session, pared losses to ‘just’ 400 points, only to finish lower by close to 634 point, a nearly 5.6% loss for the day. While these losses were pretty bad, it was nothing compared to the broader indexes as both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq experienced declines exceeding 6.6% to open up the week. Yet, sectors of the financial market were hit even harder by the news, especially firms [...]

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ETFdb Category Kings: Best Performers From First Half Of 2011

Michael Johnston — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:00:40 +0000

The first half of 2011 is officially in the books, and many investors find their portfolios in approximately the same place as they were to start the year (though a furious rally in the final week of the quarter gave a nice boost at an opportune moment). Most major equity indexes are up slightly on the year, while fixed income benchmarks have similarly hovered around breakeven. Beyond these broad generalizations, there are some significant performance discrepancies among exchange-traded products that may seem to offer up similar risk/return profiles. The following tables highlight the top performers from every ETFdb Category during the first six months of the year, shedding some light on the asset classes that have struggled and thrived so far in 2011–and reinforcing that the seemingly minor distinctions between ETPs can lead to big differences in performance [for monthly updates on the best performers, sign up for the free [...]

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May ETFdb Category Kings: Best Performing ETFs

Michael Johnston — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 13:00:43 +0000

The month of May was a generally disappointing stretch for investors, as both international and domestic equity markets struggled to overcome obstacles new and old. Commodities, which had been a nice source of absolute returns for much of the last year, fell on hard times as well; precious metals went into a brief freefall, and most other natural resources saw price declines as well. May demonstrated the importance of a meaningful allocation to fixed income within any long-term portfolio, as most bond ETFs turned in nice gains during the month. The following tables highlight the best performers from each ETFdb Category during the month of May [ETFdb Pro members can download spreadsheets showing performance and expense data for the entire ETF universe]. Equity ETFs Though most equity ETFs finished May in negative territory, there were a handful of bright spots among the hundreds of ETFs that slice and dice the [...]

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Global X Debuts First Canada Preferred Stock ETF (CNPF)

Michael Johnston — Wed, 25 May 2011 14:00:44 +0000

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 nearly 60 different preferred stock issues from companies operating in various sectors of the Canadian economy. Financials are the biggest allocation within the portfolio, making up nearly 75% of assets. Energy firms (10%), telecom companies (6%) and consumer discretionary companies (5%) make up the remainder of the exposure. Preferred Stock Appeal Preferred stock is a unique asset class, exhibiting characteristics of both equities and fixed income. Preferred stock has been a popular source of financing for banks for decades, and has been popular with investors because of the ability to generate stable cash flows while [...]

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iShares Planning International Preferred Stock ETF

Michael Johnston — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 15:00:13 +0000

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 proposed S&P International Preferred Stock Index Fund would seek to replicate the S&P International Preferred Stock Index. That index consists of preferred stocks from non-U.S. developed market issuers and traded in non-U.S. developed markets, with a heavy tilt towards securities of Canadian banks. As of January 24, 2011, Canadian issues accounted for about 73% of the underlying index, while financial companies made up more than 80% of the index. Also represented in the S&P International Preferred Stock Index are Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. iShares currently offers the S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index [...]

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Best ETF Performers Of 2010: Winners For Every ETFdb Category

Michael Johnston — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:00:23 +0000

Last year was a good year for most asset classes, as investor portfolios continued to recover from the recent recession. The difference in performance between many comparable funds was significant, and many of the best performers of 2010 are relatively small funds that maintain considerably smaller asset bases than their more popular competitors. Below, we profiled the top performing ETFs in more than 60 ETFdb Categories covering all major asset classes. ETFs that launched in 2010 were excluded, as were those that stopped trading during the year [for more ETF insights, sign up for our free ETF newsletter]: Equity ETFs Many equity ETFs turned impressive performances in 2010; below, we profile the best of the best: All Cap Equities: The First Trust Multi CG AlphaDex (FAD) added 25.2% last year, besting the more popular VTI (up 17.4%) and IWV (up 16.8%) by a wide margin. Large Cap Blend Equities: The [...]

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Preferred Stock ETFs Continue Winning Streak

Michael Johnston — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:41:27 +0000

Recent growth in the ETF industry has been due in large part to surges in popularity of asset classes to which many investors would otherwise have fairly limited access. Exchange-traded commodity products have seen billions of dollars in cash inflows, as have fixed income and currency funds. While the number of ETFs offering exposure to preferred stock can still be counted on one hand, this corner of the ETF industry has witnessed tremendous growth as well, as investors have embraced ETFs as a way to gain exposure to this “hybrid” asset class. At the end of February, the four preferred stock ETFs available to U.S. investors had aggregate assets of about $6.2 billion, up from just $1.7 billion a year ago (when there were only three funds available). While stellar returns have given asset levels a boost, so too have waves of cash inflows into these funds. With interest rates [...]

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One Year Later: Top Ten Performing ETFs Since The Market Bottom

Michael Johnston — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:00:37 +0000

March 9, 2009 is a date etched into the memories of many investors. After months of unprecedented volatility, depressing statistical releases, and countless false bottoms, that’s the day most equity markets finally hit their lows. It also marked the beginning of an impressive rally that saw most major indexes climb steadily for the remainder of the year, reclaiming big chunks of the ground lost during the downturn. While the “great rally of ’09″ boosted most asset classes (and their related ETFs), some performed far better than others. Below, we highlight the ten non-leveraged ETFs that have delivered the best performances in the twelve months following the bear market lows hit in March 2009: 10. Market Vectors Russia ETF (RSX): +176% China and Brazil are often held out as examples of the success emerging markets have experienced during the recovery, but it is another member of the BRIC bloc that is [...]

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ETF Database » PGF

101 ETF Lessons Every Financial Advisor Should Learn

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