Under The Hood

Here's an interesting ETF riddle: Is it possible for a fund issued by the world's largest ETF provider that is nearly five years old with almost $579 million in assets under management that features Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) as its top holding to lead a relatively anonymous existence? In the case of the...

As has been previously noted, actively managed ETFs hold a small slice of the total exchanged-traded products pie. At the end of March, U.S.-listed ETFs and ETNs had a combined $1.2 trillion in assets under management, according to ETF Industry Association data, but actively managed ETFs had just $...

Since its debut in October 2007, the WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend Fund (NYSE: DGS) has been a pioneer. The fund was the first to combine the allure of dividends, emerging markets and small-caps under one umbrella. Gaining exposure to emerging markets dividend payers via ETFs isn'...

The amount of attention paid to the Philippines investment thesis has increased a bit in 2012. As it should have, but the iShares MSCI Philippines Investable Market Index Fund (NYSE: EPHE), the lone ETF devoted to the rapidly growing Southeast Asian nation, still remains an enigma to many U.S....

For one reason or another many global mid-cap ETFs go unloved, unheralded or unknown. Obviously, ETFs tracking international large-caps have proven highly successful and global small-cap funds have become popular with investors, but what about the mid-cap funds? Well, that's often a different...

The deluge of new dividend ETFs has been an oft-lamented theme for close to a year. Maybe longer and that makes sense. In an environment where investors are starved for yield, there are now scores of ETFs that help investors generate the income they so badly crave with dividend yields that are far...

Looking at the year-to-date returns for some of the largest emerging markets ETFs, it's easy to see how some investors might perceive the current state of affairs as encouraging or compelling enough to throw money at some of these funds. After all, the Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSE: VWO...

For those that didn't get the memo the Brazilian investment thesis and the corresponding ETFs have taken their lumps recently. Part of the reason why is the plunging real. The Brazilian currency as tracked by the WisdomTree Dreyfus Brazilian Real ETF (NYSE: BZF) is looking ugly at the moment....

Somewhat hidden among the blistering pace of new ETF introductions this year is the proliferation of international small-cap funds. The race to roll out more global small-cap ETFs has even prompted some ETF sponsors to try their luck with concepts that previously failed. It's easy to understand...

There's has been a lot of chatter about ETF closures lately, but anyone can talk all they want because the clip of new ETF introductions has far outpaced closures this year. State Street's (NYSE: STT) State Street Global Advisors, the second-largest U.S. ETF sponsor, has been getting in on the act...

For a while there, investors looking for ETF options for the Scandinavian countries were limited to the iShares MSCI Sweden Index Fund (NYSE: EWD), the Global X FTSE Nordic Region ETF (NYSE: GXF) and the Global X Norway ETF (NYSE: NORW). That changed earlier this year when iShares, the world's...

Our Canadian neighbors are no doubt familiar with the CBC television network's "Hockey Night In Canada" NHL broadcast that made its TV debut in the early 1950s. As far as investors are concerned, there is a new Canada-specific ETF skating the rink these days, but since this neighborhood isn't short...

The allure of the emerging markets consumer as an investment thesis has been well-documented and ETF issuers have seized up on this by offering both multi-country and country-specific emerging markets consumer plays. Brazil and China are among the countries represented by EM consumer funds. So is...

It's rare that we go under the hood with an ETF that has just one trading day under its belt, but when the opportunity presented itself, we decided to give it a short. That new ETF is the SPDR S&P Small Cap Emerging Asia Pacific ETF (NYSE: GMFS), which debuted on Thursday. Apparently the ETF...

The term "insider trading" usually conjures up negative vibes, but there is a legal version of it and some investors just love following insider transactions at various companies to glean clues about the future direction of the stock. If that's you, Direxion has two new ETFs that might pique your...