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 the global investment landscape continues to evolve, iShares aims to provide solutions to help clients overcome investment challenges. Institutions are increasingly using ETFs as tools to overcome these challenges, and our 2018 iShares institutional Guide to ETFs is a resource to help them navigate the ever-evolving ETF…
Institutional investors are increasingly recognizing the benefits of bond ETFs. In the three years since BlackRock first published the Guide to Bond ETFs, a diverse set of asset managers, insurers and pensions have adopted ETFs for the first time. Even active bond buyers are supplementing portfolios of individual issues with…
This detailed report by the Investment Company Institute (over 300 pages) provides a wealth of information on investor characteristics within the context of market developments. A must read!
The past couple of decades have seen a significant shift in assets from active to passive investment strategies. This report examines the potential effects of this shift on financial stability through four different channels: (1) effects on investment funds’ liquidity transformation and redemption risks; (2) passive…
Scope has analysed 13 open-ended real estate funds for private investors as well as a further seven funds targeted at institutional investors. The total volume of the evaluated funds amounts to around EUR 85bn. This year, Scope has upgraded the rating of five funds, while downgrading another.
This paper by Kempen shows that the total cost of ownership (TCO) framework shows the potential role of ETFs in the portfolios of institutional clients. Especially in asset classes with high underlying transaction costs, the use of large liquid ETFs can help to reduce the TCO for clients.
The S&P Target Date® Scorecard provides performance comparisons, equal- and asset-weighted category averages, and analytics covering the target date fund (TDF) universe. Past performance of the “Through” glide path category, as represented by the S&P Target Date Through benchmarks, is significantly different from…
Managed futures have historically delivered equity-like returns over time, but with high diversification to traditional asset classes. This unique return profile has become well known for the potential of delivering positive returns in times of sustained market stress, an attribute popularised as ‘Crisis Alpha’. Due to these…
Many Smart Beta ETFs are bought with the expectation of long-term market outperformance. The factors that many are based on have been proven both academically and empirically to produce excess returns. However, especially in the short-term, many of these funds may be vulnerable to different market, factor and economic events…
S&P Dow Jones Indices recently published a comprehensive study on ETF usage in insurance company general accounts, showing Mutual insurance companies used ETFs more than other types of companies. In this report, we analyze the investment trends within the mutual insurance industry and compare them against the remainder…
Sector rotation strategies are gaining traction globally. But what types of strategies make the most sense for European investors specifically, and how does the S&P 500® factor in?
Hear perspectives from renowned investment strategist Sam Stovall of CFRA and Rebecca Chesworth of SSGA on topics including:…
The SPIVA Australia Scorecard reports on the performance of actively managed Australian mutual funds against their respective benchmark indices over 1-, 3-, 5-,10-, and 15-year investment horizons. In this scorecard, we evaluated returns of more than 849 Australian equity funds (large, mid, and small cap, as well as A-REIT…
In this report, we measure the performance persistence of active funds that outperformed their peers and benchmarks over consecutive three and five-year periods, and we analyze their transition matrices over subsequent periods.
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have become one of the most popular investment vehicles over the last two decades, with some ETFs now having more than twice the assets of the largest hedge funds. The trading activity of any large fund is expected to impact the price of the securities traded, but to what extent do ETFs impact…
The well-established negative relation between expense ratios and future net-of-fees performance of actively managed equity mutual funds guides portfolio decisions of institutional and retail investors. We show that this relation is an artifact of the failure to adjust performance for exposure to the profitability and…
Chasing mutual fund performance suffers from a bad reputation these days. Of course, perspectives change all the time in finance. What was once considered poor form often becomes best practice and vice versa. Leveraged buyouts and activist investors, for instance, were once looked downs on by much of the sector, but today…
This report by the Investment Company Institute provides insights into mutual fund-owning households in the United States. The findings are based on the ICI Mutual Fund Shareholder Tracking Survey.
