Financial

In a bid to bring foreign stocks closer to the United States through ETFs, iShares has filed with the SEC to create two new funds dedicated to overseas financial companies. The new funds will be the first of their kind, but will hope to follow in the footsteps of popular US-based financial ETFs trading on [...]

Exchange-traded funds are headed to college. Financial advisers are rapidly adding ETFs to cookie-cutter 529 investment plans to offer diversification inexpensively to the next generation of college graduates. Most 529 investment plans are still sold by financial planners, who may or may not pass on the inexpensive benefits of ETFs to their clients. However, the [...]

The largest player in the bond industry could soon introduce a line of stock funds, hoping to grow its business from a niche service to a full-scale investment house. Analysts expect the funds would first be tested on the inexpensive exchange-traded platform and rolled out into additional outlets if they prove to be successful. PIMCO [...]

Not every advisor has jumped on the exchange-traded fund bandwagon, but there are many that have. A new study finds that a certain advisor is more likely than others to enrich client portfolios with exchange-traded funds. A study conducted by Financial Research Corporation of Boston, Massachusetts found that financial advisors and planners in trading houses [...]

Rather than create leveraged ETFs, banks are finding it easier to create structured products that leverage investments on the investor’s end, instead of leveraging on the ETF’s end. The new products, which stand to benefit from poor publicity surrounding leveraged ETFs, are more like exchange-traded notes than ETFs. JP Morgan has introduced a new structured [...]

With the S&P 500 retouching the psychological 1,000 barrier, investors are beginning to flow back into double leveraged funds. Inverse leverage fund volume indicates that traders may not be willing to continue the market’s rally. Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ: Quote, Profile, Advanced Chart, News) is one of the largest movers, with the [...]

Global X Management has launched a new ETF on NYSE Arca, allowing American traders to invest in Nordic European countries. The Global X FTSE Nordic 30 ETF (GXF) offers exposure to the largest and most liquid stocks in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway. The new ETF will track the FTSE Nordic 30 index minus fees [...]

During the latest bubble, no asset was more dramatically impacted than real estate. In a near vertical plunge, REIT ETFs suffered as the credit crunch sent housing prices lower. However, in a rare twist of fate, it could be the problem that will actually become the solution. The credit crunch not only depressed real estate [...]

Only days after two lawsuits were filed against ProShares’ UltraShort Real Estate Fund (SRS: Quote, Profile, Advanced Chart, News), a third legal entity will begin investigating the leveraged ETF sector as a whole. Stanley, Mandel & Iola, L.L.P. and Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP have announced their intent to find wrongdoing committed by [...]

No investment company in the world has done more to broaden the availability of ETFs to investors than iShares. In a new deal with SunGard, the firm hopes to place ETF options in more 401k and 403b programs. The program will be spearheaded by iShares, but promoted by SunGard, which will offer the products to [...]