State Street didn’t invent the concept of dividend-oriented exposure to emerging markets. The Matthews Fund family has been ultra-successful with its Matthews Asia Dividend Fund (MAPIX) for many years. What’s more, WisdomTree’s Emerging Market Equity Income ETF (DEM) tracks an emerging market dividend index and has been a mainstay since July of 2007. With that said, MAPIX focuses exclusively on [...] Continue Reading...
Surprisingly, many investors do not understand how important internal expenses are when considering their investments. They will look to save on nominal trading costs, yet they will neglect ETF provider percentage cuts when selecting positions. In some cases, that could cost an investor tens of thousands of dollars. So when a big name provider like Vanguard lowers the expense ratio on popular ETFs [...] Continue Reading...
Hard Asset ETFs, Lithium ETF, Agribusiness ETF, Emerging Market ETFs, Germany ETF Click here to listen to the show: 2-27-11 Continue Reading...
Oil has been stealing the mainstream media headlines. And quite frankly, the Libya-inspired surge in crude should be the lead story. However, there’s a far more intriguing “back-pager” that investors need to know about. The Swiss franc hit an all-time high against the U.S. dollar on Thursday. Note: You may want to look at the trend for Currency Shares Swiss [...] Continue Reading...
Some folks may like the idea of greater access to the hedge fund arena. Others may connect these dots to Bernie Madoff’s world, choosing to steer clear altogether. Regardless of one’s view, ETF providers continue to push Hedge Fund ETFs. Up until now, investors have largely treated them like flat soda cans sitting in the summertime sun. However, sentiment may be changing. Consider what Morningstar recently had [...] Continue Reading...
Stock assets would have pulled back soon enough. The fact that we have Libya oil production uncertainty is merely the profit-taking excuse that many had been waiting for. Keep in mind, most of the world’s indexes had been retreating already. Many emerging markets had been flirting with full-fledged corrections before crude spiked. Even Europe had been flatter than [...] Continue Reading...
Savers have been living in a 0% interest rate world for years now. Can you do better? Only if you’re willing to take on a little bit of risk. Dividend ETFs are one possibility. Yet, high-yielding income production in stock assets is hardly a fail-safe solution. You should be skeptical about dedicating large portions of your savings to Dividend ETFs [...] Continue Reading...
I went skiing at Snow Summit in Big Bear over the holiday weekend. The slopes at the resort were spectacularly groomed, and Saturday’s massive blizzard treated visitors to a foot or more of fresh powder. A severe downpour in the city of Big Bear? From an investment adviser’s vantage point, the actuality was more than a little ironic. Nonetheless, it was an extraordinary [...] Continue Reading...
The most recent Case Shiller Home Price Index revealed discouraging data for the state of U.S. residential real estate. For example, in 11 of the 20 cities surveyed, property prices reached new 52-week lows. If you have a substantial amount tied up in your personal home or additional properties, you may need to consider other avenues for diversifying your dollars. Resource ETFs may spark your interest. Or, you [...] Continue Reading...
Asian ETFs, Malaysia ETFs, India ETFs, China ETFs, Inside ETF Conference Click here to listen to the show: 2-20-11 Continue Reading...
