Displaying items by tag: ETFs

Large-cap blend funds, core holdings that mirror the U.S. stock market, have posted strong results, returning 15.84% over the past year, 22.50% annually over three years, and 14.81% over five. Morningstar data identified 15 standout funds with top-quartile returns across one-, three-, and five-year periods, including American Funds Fundamental Investors, AQR Large Cap Multi-Style Fund, and Vanguard 500 Index Fund. 

The American Funds Fundamental Investors fund rose 23% in the past year, boosted by global exposure and a refreshed management team, while The Investment Company of America fund gained 22.25% with a balanced focus on dividend growth and capital appreciation. 

AQR’s Large Cap Multi-Style Fund outperformed its peers with a 23.52% annual gain, leveraging value, momentum, and quality factors to manage market sensitivity efficiently. 

Finsum: These funds demonstrate that disciplined diversification, data-driven strategy, and cost efficiency continue to drive superior long-term performance.

The SEC’s pending approval of dual share classes marks a major turning point for ETFs, allowing mutual funds and ETFs to share the same underlying portfolio. Dimensional Fund Advisors, which has long pursued this exemption, is expected to be the first mover once operational logistics are in place. 

Industry leaders say investors will benefit from the ability to convert between mutual fund and ETF shares without triggering taxes or transaction costs, though custodians must update systems to enable this functionality. 

Firms like F/m Investments are preparing to launch mutual fund versions of existing ETFs to expand into retirement markets, while others, such as Touchstone Investments, anticipate a slower rollout due to operational hurdles 

Finsum: Fund boards will play a critical oversight role, ensuring proper governance, investor education, and alignment between fund structures as this transformation unfolds.

Assets in European active ETFs have more than doubled in two years to reach €62.4 billion, though they still make up only 2.6% of Europe’s total ETF market—far behind the 10.2% share in the U.S., signaling early-stage adoption. Investor interest is rising, with €13.4 billion in inflows so far in 2025 following €18.4 billion in 2024, yet active ETFs still represent just 6% of total European ETF flows. 

JP Morgan continues to dominate with a 56% market share, followed by Fidelity and Pimco, while new players like HSBC, Avantis, and Goldman Sachs are intensifying competition and pushing fees lower. 

Equity offerings are mostly “shy-active”, benchmark-aware strategies seeking modest outperformance, while fixed-income active ETFs have quietly excelled, expanding into complex areas like CLOs and mortgage-backed securities with strong early results. 

Finsum: Overall, Europe’s active ETF market is maturing rapidly, blending innovation, cost competitiveness. 

The Nasdaq-100 Index has long rewarded investors with strong returns, delivering a 19.43% annualized gain over the past decade, outpacing the broader U.S. market’s 13.93% return, though with greater volatility. This volatility, often seen as a drawback, can actually benefit investors through direct indexing, a strategy that allows ownership of individual stocks within an index. 

Unlike ETFs, direct indexing enables tax-loss harvesting, where investors sell underperforming stocks to offset capital gains and lower tax bills while maintaining market exposure. Wealthfront has pioneered this approach with its new Nasdaq-100 Direct portfolio, offering retail investors access to innovative companies and potential tax savings with a low 0.12% annual advisory fee. 

Direct indexing can help investors turn volatility into an advantage by improving after-tax returns while closely tracking the index’s performance.

Finsum: Ultimately, the strategy offers a cost-effective, tax-efficient way to capture the long-term growth potential of the Nasdaq-100’s most dynamic companies.

The democratization of private markets is accelerating as asset managers, regulators, and ETF innovators work to expand investor access to what was once an institutional-only domain. Once viewed as opaque, illiquid, and high-cost, private markets have grown from $4 trillion to $15 trillion in assets over the past decade, as investors seek diversification, income, and long-term growth beyond public markets. 

ETFs are now at the forefront of this movement, with products like the SPDR SSGA Apollo IG Public & Private Credit ETF (PRIV) breaking new ground by offering direct exposure to private credit within a liquid wrapper. credit CLOs, each offering a distinct way to capture the returns of the private economy. 

As demand grows, firms like VanEck note that private market managers are increasingly expanding into wealth management and retirement channels, further broadening investor participation. 

Finsum: The push to make private assets more accessible marks one of the most disruptive and promising frontiers in modern investing.