ETF Spotlight - EZM
As EZM (WisdomTree MidCap Earnings Fund) recently passed its 5-year anniversary, I had the pleasure of speaking to Jeremy Schwartz (Director of Research at WisdomTree) about the fund and some of the dynamics...
"Caught between the volatile but exciting SmallCaps and the more established and heavily researched LargeCaps, MidCap stocks tend to be overlooked. But investors should consider this asset class: For the majority of rolling periods within the last 30 years, MidCaps out-performed both large and small caps.
In fact, MidCaps have historically outperformed SmallCaps heading into recessions, and outperformed LargeCaps coming out.
However, picking a winning MidCap fund manager has proven difficult. After all, if mid-caps can be characterized as the small cap companies that have succeeded, they're also made up of large caps who have fallen out of favor.
Navigating between next year's winners and losers is no easy task, and the majority of active managers have struggled to beat the S&P MidCap 400 Index.
That's why we are pleased with the performance of EZM. It has outperformed the S&P MidCap 400 Index since inception and it has also beat the vast majority of mid cap managers - 98% of its peer group as defined by Morningstar on a 3-year basis."
You can learn more about EZM's earnings-weighted methodology and WisdomTree's entire Earnings ETF Family - WisdomTree Research - Earnings Family Reaches 5 Year Record. (opens a PDF). Or you can also check out the EZM Profile Listing
New Junk Bond ETF - HYEM
Van Eck Global has added a new high yield corporate bond ETF to its lineup...
- HYEM - Market Vectors Emerging Markets High Yield Bond ETF
The new bond ETF tracks the Bank of America Merrill Lynch High Yield US Emerging Markets Liquid Corporate Plus Index (EMHY) that according to Van Eck, consists of dollar-denominated bonds issued by non-sovereign emerging markets issuers that are rated below investment grade and issued in the major domestic or eurobond markets.
The fund has 62 constituents and the top three are Petroleos de Venezuela SA, Vedanta Resources PLC, and Country Garden Holdings. You can see all of the holdings as well as other details on the HYEM fact sheet. Or if you want to see similar funds, check out the...
New ETF from a New ETF Provider - GYLD
Not only do we have a new ETF, but it comes from a new ETF provider as well. Arrow Investment Advisors has debuted their first exchange traded fund...
- GYLD - Arrow Dow Jones Global Yield ETF
The new fund tracks the Dow Jones Global Composite Yield Index, which targets the 150 highest yielding investable securities across the globe. It has 30 securities across five different international segments - real estate, master limited partnerships (MLPs), equity, sovereign debt and corporate debt.
The fund is rebalanced quarterly and as of Friday's close, GYLD is trading at $24.75.
New Commodity ETN - BLND
Earlier this month, UBS rolled out a new ETN focusing on commodities...
- BLND - ETRACS DJ-UBS Commodity Index 2-4-6 Blended Futures ETN
The new note targets 28 different commodities (like Energy, Agriculture Products, and Metals). And in order to counter the contango effect, BLND tracks three different indexes - Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index 2 Month Forward, 4 Month Forward and 6 Month Forward. By using these three benchmarks, UBS wants HYEM to avoid front-month contract exposure.
As of today, BLND is trading around $24.47 and if you want to see similar notes and funds, then check out the...
ETF Data for April 2012
The ETF Industry Association (ETFIA) has released their ETF data reports for April 2012. Here are some of the highlights...
- Assets in US listed Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) and Exchange Traded Notes (ETN) totaled approximately $1.20 trillion at the end of April, which is down a bit from March, but is an increase of about 6% over April 2011.
- The top 3 ETF providers in terms of total assets were Blackrock ($498,801 AUM), State Street ($295,927) and Vanguard ($207,926. Out of these three Vanguard was the only one who had an increase from last month.
- In terms of the number of exchange traded products, Blackrock has the most (262) up 7 from last month, followed by ProShares (132), PowerShares (122) and State Street (110)
- ETFs/ETNs net cash inflows reached approximately $3 billion in April, with year-to-date net cash inflows reaching $58.9 billion.
- Vanguard saw the largest cash inflow again this month ($4,367 AUM) and PowerShares saw the largest outflow ($2,582)
- SPY, the SPDR S&P 500 has the highest total assets ($mil) with $103,107. GLD and VWO follow with $67,840 and $53,869 respectively.
- IWM, the iShares Russell 200 saw the highest net cash inflow ($mil) in April with $1,008
- PowerShares QQQ saw the highest net cash outflow with $2,582.
- At April 2012 month-end, there were 1,458 U.S. listed products, up from 1,216 in April of last year and up from 1,446 last month
- Of the 1,458 total Exchange trade products the breakdown is 1,212 ETFs, 214 ETNs and 32 ETFs of ETFs
New Corporate Bond ETFs - QLTB and QLTC
Last week, iShares rolled out 2 new corporate bond funds that are niche to specific credit ratings...
- QLTB - iShares Baa-Ba Corporate Bond ETF
- QLTC - iShares B-Ca Corporate Bond ETF
QLTB tracks the Barclays U.S. Corporate Baa - Ba Capped Index and the three largest sectors represented are Industrials (65%), Financials (16%), and Utilities (13%). It is currently trading around $50.79 and you can get full details on the QLTB fact sheet.
QLTC tracks the Barclays U.S. Corporate B - Ca Capped Index and the three largest sectors represented are Industrials (80%), S-T Securities (7%), and Financials (6.5%). It is currently trading around $50.97 and you can get full details on the QLTC fact sheet.
iShares also has QLTA in its arsenal, which targets the Aaa- A rated securities. And if you want to see more corporate bond funds...
New Market Vectors ETF - MOAT
Last week Van Eck launched a new ETF targeting the 20 most attractively priced companies with sustainable competitive advantages...
- MOAT - Market Vectors Morningstar Wide Moat Research ETF
The new fund tracks the Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index and contains such companies as Amazon, Pfizer, and Merck in its holdings. As of today, the fund is trading around $20.05 and for full details on the methodology and other factors, you can check out the MOAT fact sheet on the Van Eck website.
3 New Junk Bond ETFs
And the ETFs just keep on coming. Today we are discussing 3 new BulletShares Junk Bond ETFs launched last week by Guggenheim...
- BSJG - Guggenheim BulletShares 2016 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF
- BSJH - Guggenheim BulletShares 2017 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF
- BSJI - Guggenheim BulletShares 2018 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF
Guggenheim also has 4 other similar funds that cover 2012 through 2015. As for all of the funds, they track high yield corporate bond indexes called BulletShares USD High Yield Corporate Bond Index for each of their respective years. The indexes are comprised of high yield corporate bonds with effective maturities in the given year. For more information on each fund, you can visit the Guggenheim website.
Or if you want to see other high-yield funds, check out the...
3 New Actively Managed SPDRs
Yesterday Pimco launched a new actively managed TIPs ETF, but it was last week that SSga (State Street) launched three new actively managed funds of their own...
- GAL - SPDR SSgA Global Allocation ETF
- INKM - SPDR SSgA Income Allocation ETF
- RLY - SPDR SSgA Multi-Asset Real Return ETF
As for GAL, the goal according to SSgA is to provide capital allocation and it tracks two indexes. The primary benchmark is the MSCI ACWI IMI Index and the secondary benchmark is the SSgA Global Allocation Composite Index. As of today, GAL is trading around $30.14 and you can get the full details about the fund on the Fact Sheet.
The goal of INKM is to provide total return by focusing on investment in income and yield-generating assets. The primary benchmark is the MSCI World Index and the secondary benchmark is the SSgA Income Allocation Composite Index. As of today, INKM is trading around $30.27 and you can get the full details about the fund on the Fact Sheet.
As for RLY, the investment goal is to achieve real return consisting of capital appreciation and current income. It also tracks a primary and secondary benchmark, the Barclays U.S. Government Inflation-linked Bond Index and the SSgA Multi-Asset Real Return Composite Index. It's trading around $30.43 and more information about the fund can be found on the fact sheet.
Or if you want to see similar funds, you can check out the...
New TIPs ETF - ILB
Pimco has launched a new TIPs ETF today, fresh for the first day of the month...
- ILB - Global Advantage Inflation-Linked Bond Strategy ETF
The new fund is an actively managed ETF and tracks two benchmarks - The Barclays Capital Universal Government Inflation-Linked Bond Index and the PIMCO Global Advantage Inflation-Linked Bond Index. And according to Pimco, the ETF is designed to offer investors the potential for long-term returns above inflation by actively managing global inflation-linked bonds and currencies. For full details, you can visit the Pimco press release.
And if you want to see similar funds like ILB, you can check out the...