When it comes to global investing, plan sponsors want to focus on the winners and forget the losers. That's why they're asking questions about country-based exchange-traded funds.
State Street Global Advisors and MFS Investment Management have announced a strategic partnership to collaborate on exchange-traded product development.
Exchange-traded funds are now poised to overtake hedge funds on the investment front. And that raises questions about the future of alpha.
Institutional use of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is rising exponentially, according to numerous experts and surveys. And yet plan sponsors in Canada at least have expressed the challenges they face when it comes to using them. Moreover, exactly how they are using ETFs isn’t 100% clear, unless, of course, you have access to anecdotal information. The $64,000 question: Are plan sponsors ready for longer-term strategic use?
I really hate end-of-year lists. So why am I subjecting you to this post? Because so much has happened in the exchange-traded fund space in 2013 that could fundamentally change the game for the industry in 2014 and beyond. I wrote about a lot of these developments on the site in 2013, but there are five that I think will gain traction in the coming months and years.
Institutional investors report that they are increasingly using smart beta exchange-traded funds, according to a new study.
Institutions are giving up on the hunt for alpha in favour of passive strategies. This trend will support continued exchange-traded fund (ETF) use, says Cerulli
New exchange-traded products hedge all the right risks but require investment gymnastics to create the right fit for a pension portfolio. Providers looking to crack the pension space need to go beyond off-the-shelf products if they expect to make any headway.
Could bond exchange-traded funds help plan sponsors find the right asset-liability match in this low-rate world?
October saw a reversal of the trend with a flurry of activity on the launch front, according to Seeking Alpha. The spike saw 30 launches happen during the month, although there were another 15 closures. At the same time, there have been 56 closures in 2013, or one closure for every 2.4 introductions.