News about

Target-Date Fund-mageddon

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 12:50:15 -0400

Markets are rarely tractable, which is one reason why significant flexibility is required over an investment lifespan. Flexibility is something that target-date funds don’t have much of.

Profiling 5 Total Portfolio ETFs

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 07:00:59 -0400

As the ETF industry continues to pump out some of the most intriguing and innovative products on the market, investors are now are now able to choose from a lineup of over 1,400 exchange-traded products to fit their every investment whim. Recently, a trend of “hyper-targeted” and sector specific ETFs have swept across Wall Street, attracting high demand from those who wish to establish tactical tilts in their portfolios. But for most average investors, a strategy that produces a well-balanced mix of multiple asset classes is likely to be more ideal [create customized ETF analysis with the ETF Analyzer]. Enter “total portfolio” ETFs. These products offer a way for investors to gain exposure to an entire portfolio through a single equity ticker, and all at a relatively low cost. Currently there are more than 20 funds in the Diversified Portfolio ETFdb Category with investment objectives ranging from the more conservative approach to an aggressive asset allocation strategy. [...]

Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.

ETF Plays To Heed Bill Gross’ Warnings

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 09:00:02 -0400

Since the unprecedented financial crash of 2008, investors have witnessed some of the most radical and controversial practices being adopted by our central bank to save our sputtering economy. Perhaps the most sensational of the measures taken were the infamous quantitative easing programs, where the Fed proceeded to “monetize” the debt by printing massive amounts of money. In addition, interest rates have been slashed to record low levels – to an unthinkable zero percent interest rate. And given the fact that the U.S. economy is still sluggish at best, many experts are weighing in on the various asset-purchasing programs and whether or not they agree with the action of the Fed [see also ETF Profile: Credit Suisse 130/30 (CSM)]. Those who have spoken out against the Fed include none other than the legendary Bond King himself, Bill Gross. Gross warns that the Fed’s rampant money printing and zero-percent interest rates are actually [...]

Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.

The Power of Effective Diversification: Part II

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 14:00:32 -0400

by Geoff Considine Last week, I posted an article discussing how diversification is one of the most misunderstood concepts in investing. In today’s post I continue with the second half of this two-part series titled, “The Power of Effective Diversification.” In Part I of this article, I discussed the difference between naive diversification (holding lots of stuff in [...]

The Power of Effective Diversification

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 09:40:43 -0400

by Geoff Considine Diversification is one of the most misunderstood concepts in investing. If you read a good explanation of the strategy, you’ll learn that the goal of diversification is to combine different investments that tend not to be driven by the same factors in the economy. So when one investment lags, the others in the [...]

Even Balanced Portfolios Correlate Strongly to Stocks

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 12:35:57 -0400

Those investors looking to build a portfolio with low correlation to the stock market are going to have to do more than just add bonds. BlackRock points out that the correlation of a 60/40 balanced portfolio and a 100% equity portfolio has been 0.99 over the past 15 years! It is important for investors to [...]

Hedge Funds Trail Vanguard Index Funds

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 14:36:09 -0400

BY MATTHEW ILLIAN In another edition of “you can make the numbers say whatever you want” two financial industry studies are contradicting each other. Vanguard, a highly respected mutual fund company with a unique client ownership structure, recently published astudy seeking to answer the following question: Do hedge funds outperform the “old” 60-40 portfolio? Vanguard’s conclusion: No [...]

Domestic Stock Funds Resumed Outflow

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 14:59:54 -0400

The Investment Company Institute is the national association of U.S. investment companies, including mutual funds, closed-end funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and unit investment trusts (UITs). Members of ICI manage total assets of $11.82 trillion and serve nearly 90 million shareholders. Flow estimates are derived from data collected coverin...

Domestic Stock Funds Had The First Positive Inflow

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 12:51:41 -0400

Equity Funds Continued Their Nonstop Outflow

Thu, 24 May 2012 11:58:00 -0400

US Stock Exodus Continued While Foreign Stocks Had More Inflow

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:13:59 -0400

iShares S&P Allocation ETFs Are Still Performing

Thu, 10 May 2012 11:51:50 -0400

It is time to review some of asset allocation ETFs. iShares S&P Target Risk Asset Allocation ETFs is designed to track S&P Target Risk Index. The S&P Target Risk Index Series is composed of four multi-asset class indices, each corresponding to a particular risk level. Like the related S&P Target Date Index Series, the asset class mix [...]

Domestic Equity Investments Continued Its Year Long Outflow

Thu, 10 May 2012 11:36:02 -0400

Domestic Equity Fund Continues Out Flows To Foreign Equity

Thu, 03 May 2012 15:01:56 -0400

ETF And Mutual Fund Flows

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 20:35:29 -0400

systematicrelativestrength.com The Investment Company Institute is the national association of U.S. investment companies, including mutual funds, closed-end funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and unit investment trusts (UITs). Members of ICI manage total assets of $11.82 trillion and serve nearly 90 million shareholders. Flow estimates are derived from data collected covering more than 95 percent of industry [...]

Combining Global Macro &Blackrock Global Asset Allocation Fund (MDLOX)

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:53:24 -0400

systematicrelativestrength.com Two broad categories of investment strategies have demonstrated the ability to beat the market over time: trend following and mean reversion (i.e. value). This has been confirmed by comprehensive works of research, such as What Works On Wall Street by James O’Shaughnessy. In theory, one could choose one or the other and would likely be just fine [...]

Fund Flows

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:15:48 -0400

Fund Flows: Domestic Equity Funds Had The Net Outflow

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:26:31 -0400

by Andy Hyer at SystematicRelativeStrength.com The Investment Company Institute is the national association ofU.S.investment companies, including mutual funds, closed-end funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and unit investment trusts (UITs). Members of ICI manage total assets of $11.82 trillion and serve nearly 90 million shareholders. Flow estimates are derived from data collected covering more than 95 percent [...]

Fund Review: iShares S&P Target Risk Asset Allocation Porfolio ETFs

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 12:59:26 -0500

iShares S&P Target Risk Asset Allocation ETFs is designed to track S&P Target Risk Index. The S&P Target Risk Index Series is composed of four multi-asset class indices, each corresponding to a particular risk level. Like the related S&P Target Date Index Series, the asset class mix is determined once a year through a process designed [...]

Using ETFs to Build a Diversified Portfolio

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 06:00:26 -0500

With the advent of exchange traded funds, investors are now capable of including a wide range of investment styles and strategies to form their very own diversified ETF portfolio. Depending on the investment objective and time horizon, investors may weight play around with the traditional 60/40...

Comparing Three Diversified Portfolio ETFs

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 07:24:50 -0400

As the ETF world has grown over the past few years, investors have had the opportunity to access a number of different asset classes that were once off-limits to the average investor. Products targeting a number of currencies, commodities, and emerging markets that were at one time inaccessible to all but the biggest and most powerful investors can now be traded by nearly any investor, opening up a wide world of possibilities to spread risk around and achieve alpha in a portfolio. Many of the new introductions to the ETF world have offered increasingly granular exposure–focusing, for example, on specific sub-sectors or small international economies. But some have been designed to appeal to investors looking to simplify their portfolio instead of tweaking exposure with the newest choices out there. If ETFs like the Smartphone fund from First Trust (FONE) are precise tools for fine tuning a portfolio’s exposure, there are a number of extremely blunt [...]

Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.

State Street Plans Active ETFs

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 07:00:50 -0400

The dawn of the second quarter of 2011 has seemingly brought a fresh round of momentum to the active ETF space, as the logjam at the SEC has been broken–at least initially–and some major names in both the ETF and mutual fund space have inched closer towards rolling out actively-managed ETFs. State Street, the issuer behind the two largest U.S.-listed passive ETFs, became the latest to throw its name into the ring as a potential issuer of active ETFs. In a recent SEC filing the company detailed six active ETFs covering various asset classes and investment strategies: SSgA Real Assets ETF: This fund would seek “to achieve real return consisting of capital appreciation and current income” according to the filing, and would invest primarily in exchange-traded products offering exposure to four asset classes: 1) TIPS, 2) domestic and international real estate, 3) commodities, and 4) equities of companies in the [...]

Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.

Crafted Tax Stategies, ETFs And Real Estate For 2009

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 23:27:57 -0500

Just about everybody who has an opinion on the markets has offered their view on the upcoming year. In a previous post (December 26), I rostered income producing bond and preferred stock ETF holdings owned. I deliberately neglected to offer proportion, as this is an individual choice, not for me to cloud. Moving ...

Target-Date ETFs Keep It Simple

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:00:37 -0500

Target-Date ETFs Want A Slice Of 401(k) Pie

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:00:48 -0500

The exchange traded fund (ETF) industry is continuing to fight for the assets within the 401(k) retirement area, and the time is opportune as ever. Barclays Globlal Investors has introduced a series of target-date funds, something that has become especially popular in retirement plans. John Spence for The Wall Street Journal explains these mutual funds are ...

News about

Target-Date Fund-mageddon

Profiling 5 Total Portfolio ETFs

Related Posts:

ETF Plays To Heed Bill Gross’ Warnings

Related Posts:

The Power of Effective Diversification: Part II

The Power of Effective Diversification

Even Balanced Portfolios Correlate Strongly to Stocks

Hedge Funds Trail Vanguard Index Funds

Domestic Stock Funds Resumed Outflow

Domestic Stock Funds Had The First Positive Inflow

Equity Funds Continued Their Nonstop Outflow

US Stock Exodus Continued While Foreign Stocks Had More Inflow

iShares S&P Allocation ETFs Are Still Performing

Domestic Equity Investments Continued Its Year Long Outflow

Domestic Equity Fund Continues Out Flows To Foreign Equity

ETF And Mutual Fund Flows

Combining Global Macro &Blackrock Global Asset Allocation Fund (MDLOX)

Fund Flows

Fund Flows: Domestic Equity Funds Had The Net Outflow

Fund Review: iShares S&P Target Risk Asset Allocation Porfolio ETFs

Using ETFs to Build a Diversified Portfolio

Comparing Three Diversified Portfolio ETFs

Related Posts:

State Street Plans Active ETFs

Related Posts:

Crafted Tax Stategies, ETFs And Real Estate For 2009

Target-Date ETFs Keep It Simple

Target-Date ETFs Want A Slice Of 401(k) Pie