Throughout 2012, capital has surged into junk exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as investors continued their hunt for yield in a high-volatility, low-return investing world. But as the post-election fiscal cliff looms south of the border, a major new trend is emerging: bank loans. Designed to track floating-rate senior loans, bank loan ETFs are drawing investors in record numbers as the gap between yields on bonds and loans continues to tumble.
Gridlocked government in poor shape to deal with economic risks.
Can the U.S. avoid going over the fiscal cliff? Not a chance. That was the conclusion of J. Bradford DeLong, professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley and keynote speaker at this year’s Investment Innovation Conference, which kicked off November 7 in San Diego.
The active exchange-traded fund (ETF) space is set to grow exponentially this year. What's interesting is that it's growing along different tracks in Canada and the U.S. as fixed income ETFs continue to play a bigger role in the pension space south of the border.
Pension funds and other institutional investors have been going further afield in the hunt for yield, moving further into emerging market debt, mainly on the sovereign side. But as the sovereign space becomes more crowded, the growing corporate debt market is becoming a more viable way for investors to get exposure to emerging market debt.
Bernstein's Seth Masters on why stocks are still the way to go.
Former Alaska Permanent CIO on the importance of dashboards.
As 86 exchange-traded fund (ETF) doors closed in the U.S., a whole new door opened in China with the launch of two yuan-denominated ETFs that track Hong Kong stocks, allowing mainland investors a chance to trade shares in the former British colony for the first time in history. Now that's a sign that the ETF space is maturing.
Ontario also downsizes proposed super fund.
Of all the pension funds in Canada, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec was hit particularly hard by the 2008 financial crisis, reporting a disastrous -25% return that was, in large part, due to a $13 billion investment in frozen asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP).