strategic beta

A sanguine interest rate environment and continuing speculation that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise interest rates any more than twice this year are among the catalysts helping investors rekindle their attraction toward corporate bond exchange-traded funds. The love fest includes high-...

Smart or strategic beta exchange-traded funds come with different methodologies. Some focus on a single factor, while others offer investors exposure to multiple factors. Then there are those funds that select holdings based on factors such as a company's ability to generate cash, pay and raise...

Over 280 exchange-traded products debuted in the United States last year. As is the case with every annual wave of new exchange-traded funds, some are immediately successful in terms of asset gathering, others take a while to reach assets under management milestones and some just meander until they...

The term “smart beta,” as it pertains to exchange-traded funds, has been derided by critics, but the success of some of the funds occupying this corner of the ETF landscape is undeniable. According to FTSE Russell’s first U.S. retail financial advisor market survey – Smart...

Finding exchange-traded funds that track U.S. large-caps is not difficult. Indeed, U.S. large-caps are the most easily accessed asset class via ETFs. However, with so many funds offering exposure to the same asset class, parsing through the good and the bad is a dizzying task. Increasingly, new...

Amid the bevy of exchange-traded products that came to market in the United States last year, one of the more interesting themes was the initial forays into the business by some well-known money managers. In September, asset management giant John Hancock became the latest big name in the financial...

In a year where over 200 new exchange-traded products have debuted in the United States, it is actually fairly easy to identify some of the most successful rookie ETFs. That task is rather simple when using asset-gathering proficiency as the primary metric in judging a new ETF's success. When...

Advisors and investors are hearing plenty about the growth of smart or strategic beta exchange-traded funds. New data confirm these ETFs, which toe the line between active and passive management, are growing at a blistering pace. According to FTSE Russell’s first U.S. retail financial advisor...

There is an increasing number of ways to approach smart or strategic beta methodologies in the world of exchange-traded funds. Some critics would argue the universe encompassing strategic beta is becoming unwieldy and too complex for many advisors and investors to digest. What cannot be debated is...

With smart or strategic beta exchange-traded funds receiving so much attention (and new assets), some investors might assume these funds are relatively new kids on the ETF block. That is not the case. At this point, equal-weight ETFs could be considered classics or the grandfathers of the...

As the smart or strategic beta class of exchange-traded funds has gained momentum and, more importantly, assets, the funds occupying this fast-growing segment of the ETF universe have also become increasingly sophisticated. In fact, some established factor-based ETFs have even changed indices...

Last month, asset management giant John Hancock became the latest big name in the financial services industry to enter the exchange-traded funds arena, doing so with six funds sub-advised by Dimensional Fund Advisors. Hancock's new ETF lineup is comprised of six funds – four sector...