In this article we discuss the research concerning the question of whether or not investors can beat active mutual funds with cheap ETFs. Are Passive Funds really superior investments? Aninvestor perspective Edwin J. Elton, Martin [...]
Recently, we have experienced a rush of questions from investors/clients who seek our opinion on direct indexing/tax-loss-harvesting ("TLH") and how it compares to the potential tax benefits of an ETF. Unfortunately, there is no easy [...]
The question we keep getting, in various forms, is the following:
Long story short, yes, yes, and yes...but it's complicated!
Competition for Attention in the ETF Space Itzhak Ben-David, Francesco Franzoni, Byungwook Kim, and Rabih MoussawiSSRN Working paperA version of this paper can be found hereWant to read our summaries of academic finance papers? Check out [...]
A few years ago, before launching our freedom-weighted emerging markets index, I was in a coffee shop where I overheard a group of students talking at the next table. They were anxious about an upcoming [...]
In this paper we discuss the academic research about how active mutual funds use ETFs for the purpose of improving the operations of the fund, and the impact it may have. ETF use among actively [...]
Intraday Arbitrage Between ETFs and their Underlying Portfolios Box, Davis, Evans, and LynchWorking paperA version of this paper can be found here Editor's note: Seeing how the results may have shifted since the "ARK phenomenon" would [...]
Liquidity risk and exchange-traded fund returns, variances, and tracking errors Kyounghun Bae, Daejin KimJournal of Financial EconomicsA version of this paper can be found hereWant to read our summaries of academic finance papers? Check out our [...]
Investing is never easy, but some times are easier than others. Buying US government bonds at 10%+ yields when inflation was steadily decreasing in the 1980s was probably less worrying than buying them today at [...]
Institutional Investment Strategy and Manager Choice: A Critique Richard M. EnnisJournal of Portfolio Management A version of this paper can be found hereWant to read our summaries of academic finance papers? Check out our Academic Research [...]
Investor-Stock Decoupling in Mutual Funds Miguel A. Ferreira, Massimo Massa, Pedro MatosManagement Science, forthcomingA version of this paper can be found here.Want to read our summaries of academic finance papers? Check out our Academic Research Insight category What [...]
This article discusses the research surrounding style factor ETFs, specifically the effects of portfolio construction on their performance. The Effects of Portfolio Construction on the Performance of Style Factor ETFs or How to Build a [...]
Interested in starting an ETF? Interested in converting a managed account, hedge fund, or mutual fund into an ETF? Simply want to learn more about the process of launching an ETF? This piece is an [...]
Lawrence Glosten, Suresh Nallareddy, and Yuan ZouManagement Science, forthcomingA version of this paper can be found hereWant to read our summaries of academic finance papers? Check out our Academic Research Insight category What are the Research Questions The [...]
In the short video below, I show how to compute Active Share. The accompanying excel file with the formulas can be found here. I start by computing the active share for two hypothetical funds, and [...]
Multiple events last year reminded us that “price” is a nebulous concept. The most well-publicized price disagreement came in September of 2019 when the public market balked at the price the private market (ok, mainly [...]
Lingchi is the Chinese term for the form of torture we know as “death by 1000 cuts” that was reportedly used from 900 CE until it was banned in 1905. It is also translated as [...]
Peter Thiel has this quote to open his book Zero to One: Every moment in business happens only once. The next Bill Gates will not build an operating system. The next Larry Page or Sergey [...]
What is Smart Beta? Nobody really knows these days. Heck, even the godfather of smart beta, Rob Arnott, is no longer certain. Here's his original definition (from a great piece attempting to bring sanity to [...]
In this article, we discuss the state of the ETF industry, the characteristics that ETF providers typically have, the major ETF platforms, mergers and acquisitions, and more. An overview of the ETF Industry In 2017, [...]