How often do you wish you could go back in time and make what now appears to be an “obvious” investment in a transformational company or industry? It seems perfectly clear now that smartphones would become ubiquitous and allow Apple to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company. You might say the same thing
Mutual Funds
iStockphoto Can a factor approach better help investors identify good fixed-income plays, like “fallen angel” bonds? As the bond bull market grinds on, investors increasingly see fixed income as fertile ground for factor investing. “Factors” are broad characteristics of securities, such as volatility, momentum, and quality, that can be quantified and harnessed to achieve a
If you’re wondering whether environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing is taking off, consider this: the term ESG was used during 100% more S&P 500 corporate earnings calls in the second quarter of 2019 compared with the first quarter, according to FactSet. And while the actual number of mentions was only 24 (compared with 12
Bloomberg News American flags fly at BlackRock Inc. headquarters in New York The brokerage fee wars are a big plus for the exchange-traded fund arm of investment company BlackRock BLK, +2.36% as more investors turn to ETFs, the company’s executives said Tuesday. BlackRock’s iShares has $1.6 trillion in ETF assets under management, and 39% of
The problem with most investing strategies is that they haven’t measured up well against simple indexes when comparisons have been confined to the 10-year bull market in U.S. stocks. If you look back far enough to encompass bull-and-bust cycles, the results are quite different. “If you are 70 or 65 today, during the last 20
Global economic growth is slowing. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has cut its growth projection to 2.9% this year. Only four months ago, it was projecting 3.2% growth. The new projection is the lowest in a decade. Still, this business cycle has been unusually long and therefore slower growth is to be
Growth has beaten value in the stock market for many years. But if you are feeling uncertain about the market — the trade standoff, Brexit, the health of the European Union, the threat of a recession and years of unprecedented stimulus by central banks — it may be time for you to diversify or consider
One factor that makes responsible investing difficult for investors is the linguistic anarchy that surrounds it. Investors, asset managers and advisers tend to liberally apply terms like ESG, even when it may not fully reflect the investment strategy or fund in question. The resulting terminology soup unfortunately provides the perfect breeding ground for investor confusion
Real estate remains one of the most popular assets for U.S. investors. But most have a hard time buying because of the upfront dollars involved. ETFs can be the next best thing for small-time investors looking for real-estate exposure: Sure, those investors can always buy Real Estate Investment Trusts, or REITs, that allow anyone with
A recent critique of sustainable investing on MarketWatch by Alicia Munnell offers a highly skewed analysis with conclusions that simply aren’t justified by the facts. I am the chief executive of US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, a membership organization with the objective of advancing sustainable investing. Sustainable investing does not exist
Enough time has elapsed since investment legend John Neff passed away to step back and take a sober look at the performance of the mutual fund he ran for more than three decades. That’s not because Neff’s record was anything short of impressive. But a dispassionate analysis of how much money an investor could have
The U.S. stock market may be roaring nowadays, but you don’t have to look far to see that most Americans aren’t exactly rolling in dough. A recent Washington Post article notes 40% of Americans struggle to pay the bills. Moreover, the U.S. workforce is older than ever before, with 20% of those older than 65
You are a prudent investor. You are concerned about central-bank shenanigans, the trade war and the momo (momentum) crowd running up technology stocks. If you could buy only one ETF for these times, this high-performing, low-volatility ETF is it. Let’s explore with the help of a chart. Please click here for an annotated chart of
When the “Woodstock of Capitalism” took place a few weeks ago, aka Berkshire Hathaway’s BRK.A, -0.96% BRK.B, -1.53% annual meeting, the Warren Buffett fetishists came out in full force and saturated investing websites, CNBC and YouTube with their gee-whiz commentary. I respect Buffett and I have learned a lot from him. But I’m getting tired
I’m originally from Alabama, so a lot of folks I know have been watching intently in recent weeks as legislative bodies took their cues from religious faith in passing a new law on abortion. Some have been floored that a holy mantra could impact laws and the penal code, while others have cheered the developments
Everywhere you look these days, it seems to be bad news for folks who invest overseas. From the fallout caused by a continuing trade war with China to the continued uncertainty posed by Brexit to ever-present geopolitical risks in the Middle East, the headlines don’t inspire confidence. And besides, with the S&P 500 index SPX,
Investors in health-care stocks could be forgiven for asking: “What rally?” While the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index have both soared more than 20% from their Christmas Eve lows, health-care stocks have gained less than half as much. As the S&P SPX, +0.06% sets new all-time highs and the Dow DJIA,
“Seinfeld” episodes do not usually turn up in speeches by SEC commissioners. But when Hester Peirce addressed the Council of Institutional Investors in March, she alluded to the scene where George’s father gathers a motley crew around the dinner table for Festivus, a made-up holiday featuring an “Airing of Grievances.” Said an angry Frank Costanza:
It’s proxy voting season again, when companies hold their annual shareholder meetings and let their investors vote on resolutions on everything from board candidates to diversity to parental leave. This year, investors are gearing up to vote on 303 resolutions that touch on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. But if 2018 was any indication
Global index provider MSCI recently announced it would quadruple the percentage of China A shares—shares of companies that trade on mainland exchanges like Shanghai and Shenzhen and were previously available only to Chinese investors—in its China, global and emerging market indexes by November 2019. By then, A shares will have what MSCI calls a 20%
It has been raining in Nashville. I don’t mean a little rain, I mean 13.47 inches of rain through Feb. 23, a mere 3 inches shy of the record monthly rainfall we received in 2010, which unfortunately flooded my home and many others in the area. Needless to say, I’ve been more than a little
Gold has rallied 12% since last August, but it’s still a buy. So are gold mining stocks. The metal and mining companies look like a good hedge against possible global turbulence, stagflation or recession ahead. Gold is a play on possible dollar weakness, too. “I remain very positive and constructive on gold,” says Frank Holmes,
Dangers may lurk in index funds, a popular area of the stock market known for their recent and consistent record of outperformance against actively managed funds, according to experts. A recent op-ed in the New York Times cautions that passive index funds may be vulnerable to bias, and possibly manipulation, as interest in those funds
Economist Burton Malkeil has called the index fund “the most important financial innovation that has been created for the individual investor.” And one look at index-fund pioneer Vanguard’s performance over the past decade shows that many individual investors agree. For the past 12 years, Vanguard has taken in more money on a net basis than
Bill Gross’ track record as a bond fund manager has been roundly — and unfairly — criticized. Gross earlier this week announced his retirement from mutual-fund management. It’s no secret that Gross’ investment performance, while phenomenal up until 2014, thereafter took a dramatic turn for the worse and over the past four-plus years has been
A popular instrument used to manage exposure to volatility is going away as investors face a number of potentially market-rattling uncertainties, even if a late-2018 rout for stocks has given way to a state of more recent calm. The exchange-traded iPath S&P 500 Vix Short-Term Futures ETN, which trades under the ticker VXX US:VXX is
One of the most common assertions made against Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) and other types of Responsible Investments (“RI”) is that, while it may be good for your conscience, it isn’t good for your wallet. Over the years, everyone from pension-fund gurus to high-powered billion-dollar asset managers have weighed in with the same pessimistic
John C. Bogle, the father of the retail index fund and an outspoken champion for low-cost investing that won him heroic status among individual investors, died Wednesday. He was 89. Bogle founded the Vanguard Group, the mutual fund behemoth known for inexpensive mutual funds that track a market index rather than trying to beat it.
Mutual-fund shareholders may never again see a folk hero like John C. Bogle, father of the index fund and the founder and former chairman of fund-industry titan Vanguard Group. Bogle was an outspoken, iconoclastic, in-your-face champion for low-cost, buy-and-hold investing — a populist in a business suit who spent six decades criticizing, cajoling and challenging his
Vanguard Group will no longer allow individual investors to make new trades on certain investments that seek to magnify bets, pouring cold water on strategies that became popular after the last financial crisis. Starting January 22, customers won’t be able to purchase so-called leveraged or inverse products via Vanguard’s brokerage platform, the firm said in