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.
The world is at risk. Our planet is facing numerous exponential threats. Tackling global warming, environmental degradation, and the negative externalities associated with them is only the tip of the iceberg. There is a clear need to shift companies and global economies to more sustainable models, whilst…
This article is part of a comprehensive research project on liquidity risk in asset management, which can be divided into three dimensions. The first dimension covers liability liquidity risk (or funding liquidity) modeling, the second dimension focuses on asset liquidity risk (or market liquidity) modeling, and the third…
Gold-backed exchange-traded funds and similar products (gold ETFs) have flourished since their introduction in 2003, attracting both institutional and retail investors across the globe. Recently, gold has become globally accepted as a strategic asset amidst a high-risk and low-rate environment spurring investment demand and…
This piece focuses on physically backed ETPs, with the aim of providing investors with guiding criteria for benchmarking whether a specific gold ETP structure is ‘best of breed’. It is important that investors understand the differences between individual gold ETPs to ensure the product they are considering investing in will…
When constructing portfolios, wealth advisors rely on passive strategies both for their ability to accurately capture targeted exposures and for the cost-efficiency. There are many different passive strategies to choose from, but having so much choice for each situation can be confusing.
Strong growth in global investment demand for gold in Q3 partly offset weakness elsewhere as COVID-19 remained in the driving seat. Demand for gold dropped to 892.3t in Q3 – its lowest quarterly total since Q3 2009 – as consumers and investors continued to battle the effects of the global pandemic. At 2,972.1t year-to-date (…
Study after study concludes that on average, the lower an active fund’s fees, the higher its net performance. As a result, it’s now common for both individual and institutional investors to heavily weight expense ratios when selecting investments. In fact, the latest Morningstar Fund Fee Study revealed that in 2019, a…
Could ESG strategies provide risk protection while offering a meaningful boost in ESG representation without necessarily sacrificing returns? S&P DJI’s panel of industry experts explore Canada’s expanding ESG toolkit and discuss implementation techniques for putting these tools to work.
In this piece, WisdomTree aims to compare the performance and overall cost of ownership of gold through the two main investment vehicles used by institutional investors: physically backed exchange traded products (“ETPs”) and gold futures contracts.
The recent, turbulent times have tested the limits of ETFs, with underlying Fixed Income markets ex-periencing extreme stress.This episode has demonstrated that Fixed Income ETFs coped well: they have passed the test of time and perceived weaknesses have turned out to be strengths. Welook into how ETFs respond toFixedIncome…
Currently, the real, or inflation-adjusted, price of gold is almost as high as it was in January 1980 and August 2011. Since 1975, periods of high real gold prices have occurred during periods of elevated concern about high future price inflation. Five years after the real price peaks in January 1980 and August 2011, the…
Market liquidity is expected to facilitate arbitrage, which in turn should affect the liquidity of the assets traded by arbitrageurs. The authors study this relationship using a unique dataset of equity and bond ETFs compiled from big trade-level data. They find that liquidity is an important determinant of the efficacy of…
On 6 May 2020,the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) published a recommendation to address liquidity risk in investment funds (the “ESRB recommendation”1). The ESRB recommendation requests that ESMA:1. coordinates with the National Competent Authorities (NCAs) to undertake a focused piece of supervisory exercise with…
This paper explores the incentives for mutual funds to trade with sibling funds affiliated with the same group. To this end, we construct a dataset of almost one million equity transactions and compare the pricing of trades crossed internally (cross-trades) with that of twin trades executed with external counterparties. We…
Against a background of heightened volatility in fixed-income markets in 2020, the insurance industry has seen renewed interest in fixed-income ETFs. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) estimates that insurance company general accounts hold around $40 billion in fixed-income ETFs.
Could the range of potential applications for gold be broader than some investors may think? S&P DJI’s Fiona Boal and Jim Wiederhold take a closer look at how and why gold is being put to work in portfolios today.
The objective of this paper is to provide investors with a better understanding of the benefits and potential risks of owning gold within an investment portfolio. WisdomTree look at the key features of gold, explain how investors can gain exposure to gold, and also provide insight into the structure of gold exchange traded…
Retail gold demand improved in October due to a lower gold price and Navratri sales but demand was lower y-o-y due to the higher gold price and impact on incomes due to COVID-19. Demand for safe-haven assets and strong y-t-d performance (+29.6%) supported gold ETF flows. Total holdings for Indian gold ETFs reached 27.6t by…
This year's mix of volatility and prolonged uncertainty underscores the importance of building a resilient core. As investors look to prepare portfolios for 2021, how could more strategic building blocks offer protection from the unforeseen without sacrificing access to opportunity? Craig Lazzara, CFA, Global Head of…
