Reports and investment research on ETFs and other fund vehicles, including mutual funds, UCITs and white papers on liquid alternatives. Research on liquid alts has received a lot of attention, as institutional investors and FOHFs show increasing interest in the many different types of liquid alternative mutual funds. For hedge funds, alternative UCITs provide another opportunity to expand... their investor universe. Research on future trends in UCITs has been popular, as have papers on the use of sub-advisers for liquid alternatives. The most popular ETF research includes papers on smart beta ETFs, best practices for ETF trading, Asian ETFs and bond ETFs. Different ETF articles will appeal to different members. For asset allocators seeking to make short-term allocations to an asset class, research providing a cost comparison of futures and ETFs has received many downloads. For DC Plan Sponsors, the question "should ETFs be an investment option in DC plans?" has generated a lot of interest, whereas for Canadian plan sponsors a paper questioning the use of mutual funds in Canadian pensions has proved popular.
As a part of its 9th annual US ETF Study, Greenwich Associates interviewed 181 institutional investors on the utility of ETFs for portfolio construction purposes, finding that ETFs are now considered as a primary means of obtaining fixed income exposures within institutional portfolios. Liquidity, ease of use, speed of…
In our last report, we showed that in 2017, insurance companies increased their use of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by a significant amount (37% year-over-year). In 2018, insurance companies continued to increase their use of ETFs and, in spite of a market correction in the Q4 2018, held ETF assets in line with long-term…
As a part of its 9th annual US ETF Study, Greenwich Associates interviewed 181 institutional investors on the linkage between the utilisation of smart beta strategies and the demand for ETFs. Around one-third of investors surveyed plan on increasing allocations to factor-based or smart beta ETFs over the next year.
This report has been commissioned by The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) to act as a point of reference about the current state of the investment funds industry in Canada, and the changes that have taken place in the business environment in which the Canadian investment funds industry operates.
We study tradeoffs among active mutual funds' characteristics. In both our equilibrium model and the data, funds with larger size, lower expense ratio, and higher turnover hold more-liquid portfolios. Portfolio liquidity, a concept introduced here, depends not only on the liquidity of the portfolio's holdings but…
One key measure of successful active management lies in the ability of a manager or a strategy to outperform their peers repeatedly. Consistent success is the one way to differentiate a manager’s luck from skill. The S&P Persistence Scorecard shows that few funds consistently outperformed their peers; 11.4% of domestic…
Worldwide regulated open-ended fund assets increased by 9.2 percent to EUR 48.02 trillion in Q1 2019. Worldwide net cash flow to all funds amounted to EUR 304 billion, compared to EUR 118 billion in Q4 2018. The information presented in this report was compiled by EFAMA and the Investment Company Institute (ICI) on behalf of…
n this paper, “Factor Investing in Fixed-Income – Cross-Sectional and Time-Series Momentum in Sovereign Bond Markets”, we undertake a systematic, security-level analysis of momentum and reversal strategies in US Treasuries covering more than 40 years of data. We distinguish between what we call ‘market’ and ‘self’ time-…
In this paper, “Factor Investing in Fixed-Income – Defining and Exploiting Value in Sovereign Bond Markets”, we propose a definition of value in Treasury bonds that, we believe, is more satisfactory than definitions found in the recent literature, and that allows statistically significant and economically relevant predictions…
Holdings in global gold-backed ETFs and similar products fell marginally in May by 2.2 tonnes (t) to 2,421t, equivalent to US$141mn in outflows as consistent European fund growth was offset by outflows in North America – early in the month – and in Asia.
The evolution in index investing has led to a wide range of indices and investment vehicles for institutional investors to choose from depending on their financial objectives and needs. This report by BlackRock highlights how institutions are using ETFs across asset classes to improve portfolio outcomes.
In an effort to shape the strategic process of constructing better portfolios, this paper outlines approaches grounded in indexing and ETF selection to build core portfolio positions.
ETFs are becoming standard investment tools for insurance companies, but for the moment, life insurers and property and casualty companies are employing ETFs in different ways and for different purposes.
This edition of Platinum Quarterly considers the platinum supply and demand developments for the first quarter of 2019 and provides an updated outlook for 2019. We also provide our views on issues and trends relevant to investors considering exposure to platinum as an investment asset and update you on…
When an exchange-traded fund (ETF) trades heavily around a theme, correlations among its constituents increase significantly. Even some securities that have little or negative exposure to the theme itself begin to trade in lockstep with other ETF constituents. In other words, because ETF investors are agnostic to security-…
How could index-based defined outcome strategies help advisors manage risk and align to client risk tolerance? S&P DJI’s Shaun Wurzbach joins Innovator ETFs’ Bruce Bond, and Milliman’s Adam Schenck and Matt Kaufman to discuss the potential role of S&P 500 buffer strategies as risk management tools.
It is important that investors understand the differences between individual gold ETPs to ensure the product they are considering investing in will intrinsically meet their investment goals. We believe that the robustness of the structures and processes that govern physically backed gold ETPs are key to selecting a vehicle…
