ETFs

News broke this week that one of Vanguard’s popular ESG or Environment, Social and Governance-focused strategies may not have been as true to label as one would expect. According to reports and the group’s website, the benchmark index tracked by the fund did not measure up to the name. Holding 4,500 individual fixed income securities,…

BetaShares has taken on a new cornerstone investor, TA Associates, as it enters its second decade in business, with founding partner Mirae Asset Management cashing in its chips. TA is arguably the largest growth-orientated global private equity firm with a specialty in financial services. TA, which has backed managers such as PIMCO and Invesco early…

There are a plethora of reasons for advisers to dismiss Bitcoin and other crypto assets as a worthy holding in clients’ investment portfolios. For one, they’re for the most part unregulated. To say they’re volatile is an understatement. Let’s not forget the serious fraud and theft concerns that accompany it. But crypto is here to…

It has been a busy start to the year for JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM), with the recently launched Global Macro Sustainable Fund seeking to capitalise on a profound structural shift in global investor preferences toward sustainability. Investors and advisers are increasingly seeking out less-correlated alternative asset classes and to ensure their investments are having…

The attack on short sold stocks in the past week has caused a frenzy of comments on the participation of so-called retail investors. Where this will end up is anyone’s guess, but what is increasingly clear is that equity markets are no longer at the behest of traditional investors. Nasdaq has weighed into the argument…

Machines and the Mind Around 70%-80% of equity market volume is driven by algorithmic trading. There are a host of actors in this process, from hedge funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and commodity trading advisers (CTAs). It also includes fundamental investors that refine their positions, for example, “percentage of volume” (POV) execution that matches ‘buy’ or…

Every fund manager talks about finding the next Amazon, Facebook, or Google, but very few are able to do it consistently. In fact, a broad majority of global equity strategies seem to live by the saying “if you can’t beat them, join them,” with the big tech names dominating value, growth, and every strategy in…

The Dr Cathie Wood-led ARK Investment Management is facing a different kind of pressure as 2020 draws to a close. According to Bloomberg, ARK’s ETF distributor, Resolute Investment Managers, is seeking to exercise an option acquired in 2016 to buy a controlling stake in the business. The ARK Invest strategy has been a clear winner…

By now, people know what impact investing is and according to RIAA, impact assets under management in Australia have grown to about $19B at the start of 2020; up 250% in the past 24 months. Those are decent numbers, but there’s every indication we’ve barely scratched the surface of impact investing’s potential. The growth is…

Loftus Peak, Australian global equities boutique, has become the second manager to launch a “quoted managed fund.” This looks set to become a strong trend in retail distribution, with a host of managers lining up for the new form of listing and an extra administrator entering this part of the market, Link Fund Solutions. The…