UofMass Study: Option Collar Strategies Deliver Better Performance With…
In ETF News, Strike Price> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
As reported by Pension&Investments Magazine, a newly-published research report from the University of Massachussetts has found options-based collar strategies would have outperformed the market in most asset classes, while providing drastically reduced risk leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, AND as well, throughout the subsequent recovery. “The contagion across asset classes during the financial […] Read More

4 May, 2012

Narrowing Spreads for Illiquid ETFs
In ETF News, People Profiles> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Excerpts Courtesy of James Armstrong/Traders Magazine For some illiquid exchange-traded funds, the price isn’t always right. Spreads can be unreasonably wide, luring the less informed to take the bait and accept a price that is far from reasonable. Fortunately, those spreads are slowly narrowing due to competition. With illiquid funds, the screen does not always […] Read More

3 May, 2012

Finra Fines Wells Fargo, Three Others Over ETF Sales
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Citigroup Inc. (C), Morgan Stanley, UBS AG (UBSN) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) agreed to pay a combined $9.1 million to settle regulatory claims they failed to adequately supervise the sale of leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds in 2008 and 2009. The firms also didn’t have a reasonable basis for recommending the securities to […] Read More

1 May, 2012

BNY Mellon Awarded Best ETF Service Provider In The…
In ETF News, People Profiles> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Here’s a morale booster for BNY Mellon staff: NEW YORK, May 1, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — BNY Mellon, the global leader in investment management and investment services, has been named as the 2011 “Best Service Provider – The Americas” at the eighth annual Global ETF Awards, which is sponsored by exchangetradedfunds.com. This is the […] Read More

1 May, 2012

UK’s Abydos Hedge Fund Using Options to Prepare for…
In ETF News, People Profiles, Strike Price> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
(Reuters) – Abydos Capital, a new hedge fund run by a former partner at one of London’s most high-profile oil investors, is worried about a potential military strike against Iran and plans to use options to protect his portfolio. Jean-Louis Le Mee, Chief Investment Officer of Abydos, told Reuters he thinks there is a 25 […] Read More

27 April, 2012

State Street Begins Asset-Allocation ETFs in Active Push
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
  State Street Corp. (STT), the second- largest manager of exchange-traded funds, opened three products that can spread money across a range of asset classes in a push into actively managed ETFs. The funds will use tactical asset-allocation strategies and invest in ETFs including those run by State Street, James Ross, senior managing director of […] Read More

26 April, 2012

Sponsors Scout Buying Options within SMAs
In Strike Price> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
    A little-used and relatively obscure investing strategy – buying options within a separately managed account – has made a bit of a stir in recent months, with a spike in product development talks between asset managers and platform sponsors, mostly for the strategy’s potential to address advisor and client concerns about market volatility. […] Read More

26 April, 2012

Goldman ETF Strikes Gold in India
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
  Trading in Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s gold ETF in India surged almost 11 fold, leading an advance in gold securities, as investors bought gold to mark the auspicious Hindu festival of Akshaya Tritiya. Volumes in GS Gold BeEs, India’s biggest exchange-traded fund backed by gold, was 937,816 units on the National Stock Exchange of […] Read More

25 April, 2012

Does Size Really Matter? (with ETF Returns)
In ETF News, People Profiles> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
According to Benzinga.com’s ETF Professor, its not necessarily the size of the ETF, but the motion when it comes to investor returns. From Benzinga’s April 23 edition: “..There are plenty of instances in life when bigger is better. When it comes to exchange-traded products, bigger isn’t always associated with better [4]. At least when it […] Read More

24 April, 2012

Better Take a Peak at China’s PEK..Premium Merchandise
In ETF News, People Profiles> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Courtesy of the ETF Professor at Benzinga.com Following the March 22 debacle concerning the VelocityShares Daily 2x VIX Short-Term ETN (NYSE: TVIX  that saw the now infamous ETN tumble 30% in that one trading day, traders and investors predictably wondered what exchange-traded product could be next to fall victim to a similar scenario. That scenario […] Read More

20 April, 2012

China approves new yuan ETFs in Hong Kong
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
  (Reuters) – Chinese regulators have started licensing domestic funds to create new yuan-denominated exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for sale in Hong Kong, hoping to attract fresh investors to use yuan they have accumulated offshore to invest in mainland markets. Within two weeks of announcing a 50 billion yuan ($7.9 billion) increase in the quotas for […] Read More

19 April, 2012

iShares to Introduce EM Corporate Bond ETF Thursday
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Courtesy of Benzinga.com’s  “ETF Professor”–and distributed by Dow Jones MarketWatch.. By far the most prolific issuer of new ETFs in 2012, BlackRock’s BLK +1.83% iShares unit, the world’s largest ETF sponsor, will introduce another new bond ETF on Thursday when the iShares Emerging Markets Corporate Bond Fund (bats:CEMB) debuts. The iShares Emerging markets Corporate Bond […] Read More

17 April, 2012

Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina…Argh! Re: ARGT
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
It remains to be seen whether Argentina’s nationalisation of YPF ends up in a military face-off with Spain (wouldn’t that be the black swan that nobody even thought of?!), but this coverage is courtesy of Zacks Research: “…In order to play the Argentinean economy in basket form, investors have the FTSE Argentina 20 ETF ( […] Read More

17 April, 2012

Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend.. Inside an ETF??
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
As reported by ETF Trends (among others), diamonds could follow precious metals such as gold to be “commoditized” by the introduction of exchange traded funds based on this obscure market if regulators approve the products. An ETF could be diamonds’ best friend or their worst enemy, based on your perspective. Last month,  ETF provider IndexIQ  […] Read More

16 April, 2012

AAPL Un-Buckling-Case Study ETF Correlation
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
According to TradersMag, during Q1 2012,  ETF volume as a percentage of total volume reported by major exchange fell to 16 percent from 19 percent (for all of 2011) because correlations between individual stocks and ETFs has declined. Once again, it appears to be a stock-picker’s market. The same column in TM referenced a Credit […] Read More

16 April, 2012

From Russia With Love: RSX Iron Condor
In ETF News, Strike Price> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
Courtesy of WCI top gun Matt Buckley..For those loving Russia, here’s a market neutral thesis that capitalizes on volatility. “RSX Implied Volatility is overpriced relative to its forecast volatility of 5.24% over the trade period. We are looking for possible price movement but for it to stay within its $27.00 to $33.00 price range until […] Read More

16 April, 2012

European Platform to offer best price for ETFs
In ETF News, People Profiles> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
  An exchange-traded fund platform service has been launched into the UK and European market to help IFAs and wealth managers ensure best execution when recommending clients invest in ETFs. Laurie Pinto, chief executive of London-based securities research firm NSBO, said the service is being offered through a joint venture between NSBO and WallachBeth, a […] Read More

11 April, 2012

NASDAQ New Rule: ETF Issuers Can Pay Market-Makers Quoting…
In ETF News> By MarketsMuse Staff Reporter
  As duly noted by industry expert TABB Forum, ETFs with little-known or illiquid underlying securities are a hard sell without liquidity.  “Whether you loved or hated them, major exchange specialists (including this blogger) played a vital role to help nurture small listings, and the problem of how to incent liquidity provision is an ongoing […] Read More

10 April, 2012