ETF Database » TAO

Why We Don’t Need Any More ETF Closures

Michael Johnston — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:45:53 +0000

[This article is a free preview from the October edition of ETF Edge, the premium newsletter included with a subscription to ETFdb Pro] After a summer slowdown, the product development segment of the ETF industry is back in full swing; close to 40 new ETFs and ETNs began trading in October, pushing the total product lineup past the 1,300 mark. But while new products continue to pop up at an impressive rate, there is activity at the other end of the spectrum as well; exchange-traded products continue to shut down, as issuers shutter funds that have not generated the interest they had hoped. While there have been a number of closures in 2011, the consensus in the media seems to be that significantly more consolidation is needed. Ron Rowland’s ETF Deathwatch suggests that about 150 ETFs–more than 10% of the industry lineup–are in danger (or perhaps in need) of shutting [...]

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Can The China Real Estate ETF Survive Bubble Fears?

Eric Dutram — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:45:49 +0000

Over the past decade, China has become an incredible economic force, surging from an investment afterthought to one of the key nations for trade in the world today. The country is currently the world’s second biggest economy from a GDP perspective and exports more products, in dollar terms, than any other nation on earth. Yet, with incredible growth comes difficult choices as well; inflation in the country has begun to settle at uncomfortable levels with recent readings putting the year-over-year change above 6%. This high rate of price increases, coupled with China’s relatively lax response to the situation, is starting to creep into a number of other sectors and may be resulting in unintended consequences for the economy that could be far more severe than many analysts could have initially predicted. The nexus of this problem stems from the Chinese government and their intense fear of clamping down too heavily on the rate of increases for [...]

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ETF Research Report Now Available: China ETFs In Focus

Michael Johnston — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 15:00:03 +0000

Over the past few years it has become increasingly clear that China is now the most important economy in the world. Though second to the U.S. in total size, China accounts directly for a significant portion of global GDP growth and has contributed indirectly to expansion in developed and emerging markets around the globe–particularly resource rich countries that have stepped up to fuel ongoing urbanization and aggressive infrastructure expansions and improvements. As interest in China’s equity markets has surged in recent years, it shouldn’t be surprising that investors have embraced ETFs as an efficient means of accessing this promising economy. There are currently nearly two dozen ETFs offering exposure to China, including both broad-based and sector-specific offerings. Moreover, investors seeking leveraged exposure or access to the Chinese currency have additional choices from the ETF lineup. Each of the China ETFs puts a unique spin on exposure to the Asian powerhouse, [...]

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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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Among Developed Market ETFs, Singapore And Hong Kong Crush The Competition

Eric Dutram — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 18:01:26 +0000

As the world’s three key developed market zones–the U.S., the EU, and Japan–continue to struggle under the weight of mounting debt burdens, high unemployment, and slow growth environments, investors have made a rapid exodus out of “advanced” markets and into emerging markets that now account for the majority of global GDP growth. These nations generally have far better prospects for economic expansion thanks to low debt loads, growing populations and favorable demographic shifts, and consumers who are eager and able to spend. While replacing developed markets with emerging markets has been the reaction for many investors, this strategy overlooks some of the world’s smaller but rapidly-expanding developed markets that have either capitalized on immense resources wealth or technological know-how to thrive when many of their counterparts are sputtering. Countries such as Sweden, Australia, and Canada have all seen relatively good years thanks to strong commodity exports and relatively stable fiscal [...]

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Three Real Estate ETFs To Watch If The IMF Is Right

Eric Dutram — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 11:00:15 +0000

As one of the primary causes of the recent financial crisis and economic downturn, real estate has been hit hard since 2008, with a variety of REITs struggling to find financing for new projects, tenants for old buildings, and the cash to pay for operations. While many names in this sector have plunged, others have survived and have managed to avoid the worst of the recession. Companies in this group have propelled ETFs in the Real Estate ETFdb Category and the Global Real Estate ETFdb Category to broad market-beating gains so far in 2010. In fact, the most popular ETFs in each category have beaten SPY by an average of 760 basis points since the start of the year, further underscoring the budding recovery in the real estate market. However, many are forecasting that this recent surge will be short lived and that the global real estate market will again [...]

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Definitive Guide To China ETFs

Jared Cummans — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:30:20 +0000

The impact of the recent global economic slowdown was first felt by consumers around the world who were forced to cut back on purchases in order to endure the recession. While some consumer segments such as the wealthy, have begun to spend again, the events of the last two years have also had a profound, and perhaps lasting, impact on the business of investing and the methodologies that guide the portfolio construction process. As the growth gap between the world’s advanced and developing economies widens, many U.S. investors have tossed aside the conventional wisdom that called for making a significant allocation to domestic equities in favor of a more global approach. Historically, many investors have maintained only minimal exposure to emerging markets equities, citing the significant risk factors as justification for the minimum weightings. But in the current environment, many have pointed out that it is the developed economies of [...]

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China Real Estate ETF (TAO) In Focus: Will The “Bubble” Burst?

Michael Johnston — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:12:45 +0000

A number of statistical bulletins released in recent weeks have served as an excellent illustration of the ever-widening cap between the world’s emerging and developed economies. While the U.S. and Europe struggle to stay afloat and eke out positive GDP growth, the concern in China is very different. Beijing has been concerned in recent months about an overheating economy, seeking to reel in stimulus policies introduced during the depths of the recent recession. The latest round of data indicates that, for the most part, these policies have been successful in accomplishing their stated objectives. But one troublesome area continues to cause anxiety among investors around the globe; Chinese real estate prices have become a runaway freight train, surging at rates that seem unsustainable. China’s National Bureau of Statistics said this week that average urban property prices climbed 12.8% in April from a year earlier, accelerating from March’s impressive 11.7% pace. [...]

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What’s In A Name: A Look Inside ETF Tickers

Michael Johnston — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:42:04 +0000

Whenever a company prepares for a public offering, executives have been known to spend an inordinate amount of time choosing the combination of letters that will serve as the company’s ticker and often nickname within the investment community. To many, the fixation on selecting the perfect ticker seems like an irrational obsession on par with Patrick Bateman’s affinity for business cards. But there’s some evidence to support the idea that picking a clever ticker can be worth quite a bit of money. An academic study titled “Would A Stock By Any Other Ticker Smell As Sweet?” (PDF) examined the performance of “clever ticker” stocks such as Southwest (LUV), Internet America (GEEK), Lion Country Safari (GRRR), and Explosive Fabricators (BOOM). This study uncovered that between 1984 and 2004, “a portfolio of clever-ticker stocks would have beaten the market by a substantial and statistically significant margin, contradicting the efficient market hypothesis.” Theories [...]

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Time For A Real Estate ETF?

Michael Johnston — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:41:32 +0000

Historically, no portfolio was complete without a material allocation to real estate. Consistently high real returns and low correlations to stocks and bonds made it easy to overlook the out-of-whack fundamentals that ultimately led to an unprecedented collapse. But when real estate markets got a reality check in late 2008, many investors swore off the asset class for good. Or so they thought. After losing their shirts in real estate investments during the financial crisis, many investors washed their hands (and their portfolios) of REITs, unable to tolerate such extreme volatility and unwilling to accept the downside ramifications of risky assets. But investors who were able to spot the bottom of the real estate market in the U.S. have been handsomely rewarded, and now many are beginning to consider a more significant allocation to this asset class. The ETF boom has presented dozens of options for investors looking to add [...]

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ETF Database » TAO

Why We Don’t Need Any More ETF Closures

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Can The China Real Estate ETF Survive Bubble Fears?

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ETF Research Report Now Available: China ETFs In Focus

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May ETFdb Category Kings: Best Performing ETFs

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Among Developed Market ETFs, Singapore And Hong Kong Crush The Competition

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Three Real Estate ETFs To Watch If The IMF Is Right

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Definitive Guide To China ETFs

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China Real Estate ETF (TAO) In Focus: Will The “Bubble” Burst?

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What’s In A Name: A Look Inside ETF Tickers

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Time For A Real Estate ETF?

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