ETF Database » VFH

Fund Managers Turn Bullish As “Risk Appetite” Increases

Stoyan Bojinov — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:00:44 +0000

Although uncertainty continues to linger across financial markets, investors’ confidence in the global economic recovery has without a doubt improved considerably going forward, shaking off much of last year’s pessimism. Debt negotiations in the Euro zone have played a key role in ensuring stability, while better-than-expected economic data releases on the home front have helped to reignite optimism. According to a recent survey by Bank of America, global investors have started 2012 with fairly bullish prospects and greater appetite for risk [see also 12 Rapid Fire ETF Ideas For 2012]. The Bank of America Merrill Lynch Fund Manager Survey, which was conducted earlier in January of this year, shows that of the participating 214 institutional investors, reveals that few are predicting a global slowdown. Bullish Sentiment Is Building The survey revealed that only 3% of the participants believe economic growth will weaken in 2012; this is a drastic improvement from [...]

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How Low Can Vanguard Go? Sector ETFs Get Expense Cuts

Michael Johnston — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:00:15 +0000

Vanguard, the Pennsylvania-based provider of ETFs and mutual funds known for its low management expenses, has further enhanced the cost efficiency on its lineup of sector-specific ETFs. The company announced that the expense ratios on a handful of its sector funds have been cut to 0.19%, making them slightly cheaper than the popular lineup of Sector SPDRs and on par with several FocusShares ETFs. The Vanguard sector ETFs and their expense ratios are now as follows [sign up for the free ETFdb newsletter]: Ticker Sector ER AUM VCR Consumer Disc. 0.19% $348 VDC Consumer Staples 0.19% $885 VDE Energy 0.19% $1,730 VFH Financials 0.23% $538 VHT Health Care 0.19% $725 VIS Industrials 0.19% $432 VGT Technology 0.19% $1,894 VAW Materials 0.19% $530 VOX Telecom 0.19% $366 VPU Utilities 0.19% $1,041 Each of the funds highlighted above will now be at least tied for the lowest expense ratio in their respective [...]

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Three Intriguing Alternatives To Popular ETFs (SPY, XLF, FXI)

Jared Cummans — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:00:10 +0000

As the ETF industry has maintained its strong growth, investors have grown increasingly comfortable with establishing exposure to various markets utilizing the exchange-traded structure. Now, with 1,300+ funds in the space, there is an ETF for almost any investment objective, with further innovation still on the way. But as the industry rapidly expands, some funds will be on the receiving end of ETF growing pains, as many have a hard time trusting younger or less-popular products; but this lack of faith may represent a major missed opportunity for some investors. In many cases, investors can be quick to take an ETF’s reputation or age at face value, and look no further. And it would be hard for anyone to accuse some of these ultra-popular and successful products of not meeting expectations, especially for those who value liquidity above all else. But when investors begin to look beyond the surface of [...]

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Ten Commandments Of ETF Investing

Michael Johnston — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 11:05:53 +0000

As ETFs have burst on to the scene in recent years and worked their way into the investing mainstream, the number of products available and complexity of exposure offered has increased significantly. Advisors and investors have taken steps to educate themselves on the ins and outs of ETFs, but many are still scrambling to play catch-up and unaware of the complexities these products can present. What began as a handful of securities seeking to replicate widely-known stock and bond indexes has grown into a lineup of more than 1,000 funds, offering exposure to nearly every asset class, region, and investment strategy imaginable. While this impressive growth has enhanced the arsenal of securities available to ETF investors, it has also created the potential for misuse and made finding the right ticker symbol a bit more challenging. And while ETFs offer countless potential advantages relative to strategies that revolve around mutual funds [...]

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ETFs With Significant Goldman Sachs Exposure

Michael Johnston — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:12:33 +0000

After generally impressive earnings reports sent markets higher for much of the last week, Friday’s shocking allegations against Goldman Sachs ensured that the week ended on a down note. The SEC filed fraud charges against the Wall Street giant on Friday, alleging that the firm failed to make important disclosures surrounding a subprime mortgage product some believe was destined to fail. The SEC claims that Goldman constructed and marketed ABACUS, a synthetic collateralized debt obligation linked to the performance of subprime MBS. Goldman didn’t make certain “vital information” known to investors. Specifically, the hedge fund run by John Paulson was involved in selecting which securities would be part of the portfolio, while standing to reap a huge profit if the mortgage-backed securities failed. Financial ETFs Sink The news sent Goldman stock plummeting, as GS finished Friday off more than 12% on volume nearly ten times the daily average. But once [...]

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Will Financial ETFs Ride M&A Wave Higher?

Eric Dutram — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:00:21 +0000

Over the past few weeks, there has been a resurgence in acquisition activity, fueling an already strong market rally. This news has spanned all regions of the economy ranging from the transportation sector (Burlington Northern being taken over by Berkshire Hathaway) to pharmaceuticals (Schering Plough being acquired by Merck). Most recently, in the consumer sector, Kraft announced its intention to take over confectionery giant Cadbury while Hewlett Packard announced plans to buy 3com. While the deals almost always push up the stock price of the company being acquired, the M&A activity is a welcome development for the investment banking industry, which is still suffering from the hangover of the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008. Investment banks have received nearly $4 billion in revenue from these transactions in 2009, and should this consolidation trend continue, it could be very good news for the entire financial sector. While most financial ETFs [...]

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Intel, JP Morgan Boost Tech, Financials ETFs

Michael Johnston — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:02:43 +0000

Many analysts are building up the coming weeks as one of the most important earnings seasons in recent memory, a report card on the strength and sustainability of the economic recovery in the U.S. So far, the grades have been stellar. Intel revenue and profits declined from a year ago, but the chip maker managed to beat Wall Street’s expectations, indicating that the bettered chip industry may be on the brink of a comeback. In the financial sector, J.P. Morgan reported much better-than-expected results on the back of strength in its investment banking unit. Despite continued loan losses, J.P. Morgan saw “broad-based growth” in several of its businesses according to chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon. The upbeat results gave hope to investors expecting most major financial institutions to post earnings declines. While Intel and JP Morgan represent only small portions of most technology and financial ETFs, their good news should [...]

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Financial ETFs in Focus: Obama’s Financial Regulation Overhaul

Michael Johnston — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:59:41 +0000

President Barack Obama is expected this week to announce sweeping changes to the way the much-maligned U.S. financial industry is regulated. The changes, which are to be unveiled Wednesday, are expected to include the development of a more centralized regulation system and enhanced consumer-protection capabilities. Speaking on the new developments, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner noted that the current regulatory system “was fundamentally too fragile and unstable and it did a bad job of protecting consumers and investors.” Following the release of plan details, financial sector ETFs are sure to be in focus this week as investors digest and dissect what may be the most important piece of legislature in Obama’s presidency to date. What to Expect Although the details of the administration’s proposed regulatory changes won’t be officially released until mid-week, a piece by Geithner and Lawrence Summers in Monday’s Washington Post has already shed light on what can be expected. [...]

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ETF Database » VFH

Fund Managers Turn Bullish As “Risk Appetite” Increases

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How Low Can Vanguard Go? Sector ETFs Get Expense Cuts

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Three Intriguing Alternatives To Popular ETFs (SPY, XLF, FXI)

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Ten Commandments Of ETF Investing

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ETFs With Significant Goldman Sachs Exposure

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Will Financial ETFs Ride M&A Wave Higher?

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Intel, JP Morgan Boost Tech, Financials ETFs

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Financial ETFs in Focus: Obama’s Financial Regulation Overhaul

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