NorthCoast Tactical Income Portfolio Has Broad Appeal

Otmane El Rhazi from Investor's Business Daily - ETFs RSS.



NorthCoast Asset Management's Tactical Income portfolio seeks to beat inflation while protecting against big losses. The formula has won over a range of investors. "We've been surprised at how many different demographics have been attracted to the product," said NorthCoast CIO Patrick Jamin. "We had retirees in mind when we designed the product, but found it also appeals to investors tired of earning 0% on their cash balances, or investors who are

Vanguard ETF Vs. Mutual Fund: How Should You Choose?

Otmane El Rhazi from Investor's Business Daily - ETFs RSS.



Exchange traded funds are well-loved. They give investors an instant stake in broad swaths of U.S. and global stock markets at minimal cost. Vanguard rode the low-cost wave in investing, to its benefit. As of Feb. 28, it was the second largest ETF provider, with $455 billion in assets, giving it a 21.7% market share. A year earlier, it ranked third, with $346 billion in assets and a 20% market share. The not-so-secret sauce of its growth? In large

Apple's Entry Into The Dow Increases This ETF's Appeal

Otmane El Rhazi from Investor's Business Daily - ETFs RSS.



Apple's entry into the Dow Jones Industrial Average last week was a big deal -- for Apple perhaps. And for ETF investors? Not so much, says Alex Bryan, an analyst at Morningstar Manager Research. "The change makes sense in terms of meeting the index's objective of providing exposure to industry leaders," Bryan said. However, "more than 95% of the index stayed the same as it was before." Apple (AAPL), the California-based computer and iPhone maker,

Gold ETFs Rally On Fed Move; New Fund Hedges Currency Risk

Otmane El Rhazi from Investor's Business Daily - ETFs RSS.



Exchange traded funds holding the beleaguered bullion surged late last week on dovish Fed signals. With an imminent rate hike all but ruled out, the largest ETF tracking the yellow metal, SDPR Gold Shares (GLD), popped 2% in Wednesday trade. It's risen further since. "The biggest thing that impacts gold in dollar terms is interest rates," says gold expert Frank Holmes, CEO of U.S. Global Investors. Any upward or downward shift in rates ripples

Don't Rule Out Small-Cap ETFs In Search For Income

Otmane El Rhazi from Investor's Business Daily - ETFs RSS.



In the hunt for income, ETF investors with eyes fixed on the big guns may be missing out. The nation's small-cap stocks are both increasing and initiating dividend payments, according to a new S&P Dow Jones Indices study. More than half the constituents of the S&P SmallCap 600 index -- 324, or 54% -- are now paying regular cash dividends. That's up 10.2% from the end of 2013. Small-cap yields tend to be much lower than those of their large-cap

Your Small-Cap ETF Is Soaring But Could It Be Better?

Otmane El Rhazi from Investor's Business Daily - ETFs RSS.



Like their midcap brethren, small-cap stocks have bounced back in 2015 after a relatively modest showing last year. They're among the best-performing ETFs of 2015 so far, as ETF performance data shows. The $7.4 billion iShares Russell 2000 Growth (IWO) is trading near an all-time high. So is its much smaller peer, PowerShares DWA SmallCap Momentum (DWAS). With $376.8 million in assets, DWAS is up 6.2% year to date. IWO has risen 5.9% so far in

How ProShares Is Innovating Alternative Investments

Otmane El Rhazi from Investor's Business Daily - ETFs RSS.



Think ProShares, and alternative ETFs come to mind. The Bethesda, Md.-based company launched 12 geared ("Short" and "Ultra") exchange traded funds in 2006. It now has 139 products and $25.6 billion in assets. Before co-founding ProFunds, a mutual fund company, and then ProShares ETFs, CEO Michael Sapir worked as a partner at a securities law firm for 17 years. He quit law, Sapir told IBD, because "it usually seemed that clients enjoyed themselves

Biotech, Small-Cap ETFs Stand Out Among March Winners

Otmane El Rhazi from Investor's Business Daily - ETFs RSS.



Small-cap exchange traded funds were back in style among investors in recent weeks while leading U.S. multinationals such as Intel found the strengthening greenback is denting profits overseas. Stocks in the U.S. stumbled in the past 30 days. SPDR S&P 500 (SPY), a proxy for the broader market, gave up 0.6%. The losses come amid a dollar rally that analysts are starting to describe as too much of a good thing. "With the European Central Bank's

How Will Rate Hikes Treat Your Dividend ETF?

Otmane El Rhazi from Investor's Business Daily - ETFs RSS.



With interest rates at record lows in the past several years, ETFs that invest in dividend-paying stocks have been a popular income alternative for some investors. But will they remain advantageous now that the Federal Reserve is seriously considering hiking rates? It depends on the specific investment objectives of each fund, according to Michael Rawson, research analyst at Morningstar Inc. "When you look at stocks with a high dividend payout,

Are Interest Rates Rising? This ETF Is Ready

Otmane El Rhazi from Investor's Business Daily - ETFs RSS.



Investors seeking access to the benefits of diversification and exposure to alternative allocations that hedge funds bring may be able to meet their needs via IQ Hedge Multi-Strategy Tracker (QAI). The exchange traded fund provides the possibility of owning alternative investments without having the necessary know-how of active investment, and at about half the volatility of the S&P 500 index. "Hedge funds are designed to hedge," said Adam Patti,

Fed Ready? New Sit ETF Hedges Hikes In Interest Rates

Otmane El Rhazi from Investor's Business Daily - ETFs RSS.



Nobody should invest in bond exchange traded funds without understanding that when interest rates increase, the bond's price declines. With significant improvements in the economy and unemployment rate, the Federal Reserve is expected to raise rates before 2015 ends. This will affect securities across the entire bond market. So, what is a bond ETF investor to do? A new exchange traded fund from ETF Managers Group seeks to help investors hedge

DoubleLine Joins State Street On Active Bond ETF

Otmane El Rhazi from Investor's Business Daily - ETFs RSS.



ETF giant State Street Global Advisors teamed up with DoubleLine Capital, the firm of famed bond investor Jeffrey Gundlach, to launch SPDR DoubleLine Total Return Tactical ETF (TOTL) last week. The actively managed ETF is DoubleLine's first foray into the ETF space. One of the most respected bond fund managers in the market, Gundlach ran $12 billion TCW Total Return Bond Fund until 2009. At the time, Morningstar said it was in the top 1% of all