Ongoing worries of a global economic slowdown coupled with Euro zone debt woes have prompted many investors to reallocate capital to safer corners of the market in recent months. U.S. large cap stocks have been a popular destination, largely considered a “safe haven” amongst equity investors, as this asset class has staged an impressive comeback since earlier in October of this year. However, investors looking to further diversify the equity portion of their portfolio ought to take a closer look at mid cap U.S. equities. Mid caps are often overlooked, although research suggest that this asset class can offer an appealing risk/reward profile relative to large cap stocks [see 25 Things Every Financial Advisor Should Know About ETFs].
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June was another interesting month for markets around the world as a number of important events transpired over the past few weeks. The Federal Reserve meeting came and went without much of a hitch as Bernanke called for the end of QE at the end of the month but suggested that the economy was still […]
The last week was an up-and-down stretch for global equity markets, as the intensifying crisis in Greece dominated headlines and investors scrambled to analyze the potential fallout from what seems increasingly likely to be a default on sovereign debt obligations. The jump in equity markets–which snapped a six week losing streak–wasn’t really attributable to good […]
PowerShares, one of the largest ETF issuers by assets, made the latest step in its push towards alternative index products on Thursday. The company converted seven existing products from its “Dynamic” ETF suite to Fundamental Pure Style ETFs that seek to replicate RAFI benchmarks. In addition the company will introduce two new ETFs, including the […]
PowerShares, the Chicagoland ETF issuer behind the ultra-popular QQQ that has expanded its presence in the alternative weighting arena in recent years, has plans to significantly expand its partnership with Research Affiliates, the firm that developed the RAFI methodology. Next month, PowerShares will convert seven existing products from its “Dynamic” ETF suite to Fundamental Pure […]