Fee War Moving to Advisors?
With mutual fund and ETF fees continuing to fall (and zero fee funds now available), the spotlight is shifting towards financial advisor compensation. Tim Buckley, CEO of Vanguard presented to 250 Vanguard investors last night. I was there. One of his big initiative...
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A Crisis, a Bull Market, & Financial Illiteracy
“The number one problem in today's generation and economy is the lack of financial literacy.” – Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve Chairman Ten years ago this month, the country was mired in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Lehman Brothers...
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Stagecoach Robbery
By now, you've likely (hopefully) seen some of the many headlines of Wells Fargo malfeasance. The latest was artfully captured by Barry Ritholtz... At this point, if you STILL have any financial relationship with Wells Fargo, you have implicitly given them permission...
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The Empire Strikes Back
Earlier this year, I chronicled “Core Wars”, the ruthless ETF fee competition being waged over the core building blocks of a portfolio. Investors continue plowing money into the lowest cost ETFs, resulting in fund companies battling for those dollars by engaging in a...
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China Biotech: Innovation, Opportunity, and a New ETF
ETF innovation is truly staggering. After hosting ETF Prime for 7+ years and visiting weekly with the brightest minds the industry has to offer, I can only compare the sheer level of talent and entrepreneurial spirit to Silicon Valley. With so many unique and...
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ETFs in Pictures II
Earlier this year, I put nearly 20 of my favorite ETF-related charts in a single spot. Images are often more powerful than words. Based on the response I received, I decided to compile some new favorites, all of which I’ve come across over the past several months. ...
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The Case for a Bitcoin ETF
“So I don’t (have bitcoin). But I’m a big fan of innovation.” - SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce Consider this my public comment to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on a proposed bitcoin ETF. The idea of packaging bitcoin into an ETF is creating something...
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Fidelity Takes the Leap to Zero
The first free index funds are finally here! Tomorrow, Fidelity will unveil two broad-based, self-indexed mutual funds with a 0.00% fee. In 2016, I made the prediction that several prominent ETFs will lower expense ratios to zero in 2017. I was off by a year and...
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Vanguard Goes Nuclear
"This is an unexpected move by Vanguard, and absolutely the next salvo in the ETF fee war." - Dave Nadig, Managing Director of ETF.com A ruthless ETF fee war escalated this week with Vanguard announcing 1,800+ ETFs (pretty much every ETF except leveraged and...
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Active vs. Passive – A Very Tired Debate
A recent memo from billionaire investor Howard Marks seemed to rekindle debate over active and passive investment management or, more specifically, how both should be defined. Howard (correctly) observed the increasingly blurring line between active and passive:...
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