Tag: etf

Equity fund folio addition boosted domestic mutual fund industry, helping it register over 6.62 lakh more investor accounts in January, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) data shows. Total investor accounts stood at 8.1 crore in January. Equity funds added 3.80 lakh accounts last month, taking the total equity fund folios to 4.99 crore. Fund managers attributed the addition in equity fund folios to the matured behaviour of retail investors who were seeing the market fall as an opportunity to invest their surplus money. The Nifty-50 and Nifty-500 indices,…

Despite the increased Congressional scrutiny, companies still increased share repurchases over the first quarter, potentially bolstering a smart beta ETF strategy that specifically targets companies with a history of stock buybacks. Some project that buybacks are on their way to another record this year, potentially outdoing the over $1 trillion seen in 2018, CNBC reports. Company buybacks are under the microscope on Capitol Hill as both Republicans and Democrats censured buyback practices, arguing that corporate America is receiving an unfair advantage in the tax code that rewards the behavior instead…

The past couple of weeks had something for everyone when it comes to retail. A pair of high-profile releases offered conflicting views on the health of American retailers, confusing the outlook for the industry. Last Thursday, the Census Bureau reported that U.S. retail and food service sales in December tumbled 1.2% from November to December, the steepest monthly decline since 2009. Even e-commerce, usually a consistent bright spot for sales, fared poorly in December, slipping 3.9% month-over-month. Understandably, the $265 million SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT), one of the largest…

[Editor’s Note: The following originally appeared on FactSet.com. Elisabeth Kashner is director of ETF research and analytics for FactSet.] Asset managers looking to keep up with the ETF revolution are looking for ways to break into the ETF space. These days, the path to success seems ever narrower. Not only are the major market segments well-covered, and the potential fee revenue compressed, but market acceptance of new ideas is disappearing. Launching new funds keeps getting harder. This trend manifests in the flat pace of new launches, the increase of closures, and, in the…

We recently spoke with Stephen Blumenthal, the ETF strategist heading CMG Capital Management Group in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, on the sidelines of Inside ETFs this month. The well-known tactical asset manager said one of four key recession signals is now flashing, even if a potential recession may still be several months off. Luckily for ETF investors, there are plenty of tools with which to manage looming risk, including some fresh innovation in the ETF space.   ETF.com: At Inside ETFs, a lot of the conversation centered on the macroeconomy,…