Larry Fink: Investors recognise fantastic ETF innovation
BlackRock chairman and chief executive Laurence Fink gives his insight into the future of exchange traded funds (ETFs) and how increased wealth manager uptake of the products will affect the development of the market. Developing demand for index funds and ETFs Index and ETF investing has been a phenomenal growth story over the last decade. We’ve seen an increase in demand internationally and from the whole spectrum of investor …
Off-The-Shelf Sector Rotation By David Sterman For Financial Advisor
Many investors use exchange-traded funds as part their sector rotation strategies aimed at capturing the winners in the ever-changing economy. Now there are a small (and as of last week, soon-to-be smaller) number of ETFs that do some of the legwork for them by rotating their holdings from sector to sector to keep abreast of broader economic cycles. With the economy moving from a post-recessionary phase into an early growth …
In New Year, Being More Active Is Thus Far Good (Financial) Advice By Sarah Morgan
Mutual-fund managers who actively trade—and pile up fees in the process—have long been punching bags for investors. But suddenly they look like heavyweight champs. After being trounced by the stock market for years, so-called active managers are on a hot streak. In January, 70% of large-cap stock pickers outperformed the S&P 500-stock index, according to data from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Not even a quarter of them could make …
Wealth Advisors Broaden Offerings To Include Hedge Funds
By Douglas Nelson and Michael DeJarnette, ConvergEx Prime Services — The world of alternative investment products is always changing. Sometimes the changes are dramatic and sometimes they are subtle. A seemingly subtle change is a recent trend involving independent wealth advisors entering the alternative investment space. Douglas NelsonMany observers believe this entry into the world of hedge funds by a group of advisors that has a reputation for being more …
Q&A: Bringing Hedge Fund Strategies To The Mutual Fund World
FINalternatives Published on FINalternatives (https://www.finalternatives.com) Q&A: Bringing Hedge Fund Strategies To The Mutual Fund World Feb 8 2012 | 9:31am ET Direxion president and CIO Dan O’Neill says portfolio diversification is about asset classes, but it’s also about strategies. To O’Neill’s way of thinking, Direxion has been in the alternative asset business for years, having cut its teeth in the leveraged index mutual fund space before expanding into leveraged index …
Looks Like We Really Can Blame ETFs After All By Tom Lauricella
REUTERS A running debate in the markets for the last few years has been the degree to which exchange traded funds have been driving the ups and downs of underlying stocks that make up ETFs. A big part of the problem is simply that it’s difficult to know precisely just how much trading of individual stocks is generated by shares of ETFs being bought and sold, especially if the trading …
L/S equity should not be ignored, Warns Goldman Sachs By Charles Gubert
Jan 31, 2012 Investors should not write off long/short equity hedge fund strategies, the co-head of cap intro at Goldman Sachs has warned. According to Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research, equity hedge funds suffered $8.6 billion in net outflows in the fourth quarter of 2011 reducing full year inflows to $2.2 billion. The HFRI Equity hedge Index finished 2011 down 8.25%. “Predicting success is inversely correlated to the hedge funds which …
Are Pension Forecasts Way Too Sunny? By JASON ZWEIG
If you were a better stock picker than Warren Buffet, would you be punching the clock every day as the faceless manager of a corporate pension plan? Judging by many companies’ recent financial statements, they must believe their pension plans are run by such unheralded baby Buffetts. WSJ ‘Intelligent Investor’ Jason Zweig visits Mean Street to discuss the rosy – and in many cases, unrealistic – pension fund projection corporations …
ETF-Based Strategies Grew 43% as Investors Avoid Active Funds By Christopher Condon
Ă‚Â Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) — Money overseen by U.S. investment managers who buy exchange-traded funds instead of individual stocks and bonds rose by 43 percent in the last year, even faster than the growth for ETFs, according to a report from Morningstar Inc. The 370 ETF-based investment strategies tracked by Morningstar grew to $27 billion in the year ended Sept. 30, the Chicago-based research firm said today. That outpaced the …
Fund Companies to Expand ETF Presence in `12 By Virginia Munger Kahn
The stage is set for more exchange-traded fund launches from traditional fund companies this year. Last month, Fidelity investments moved to significantly expand its role in the ETF market by filing an application for exemptive relief with the Securities and Exchange Commission to roll out a suite of ETFs. The filing envisions the launch of index-based domestic and international stock and bond funds including 130/30 and other long/short funds. “This …