Not every innovation works as advertised, and exchange-traded funds are no exception. Some ETF defects are minor, but others can damage your investment results if you don’t take steps to avoid them. ETFs trade like stocks and can behave like them, too. The fact that you can buy and sell ETFs just like stocks is [...]
These exchange-traded funds do more than track indexes. It sounds like a contradiction: exchange-traded funds that buy and sell investments picked by managers instead of tracking an index. But more than two dozen actively managed ETFs are now available, and that’s just the beginning. Firms large and small are getting on the bandwagon. Well-known ETF [...]
No matter your politics or your beliefs, you can find a socially screened fund that will match your morals — and make you money. It’s easy to roll your eyes at socially responsible investing. Maybe it’s because the term suggests that other types of investing are, well, socially irresponsible. Look past its practitioners’ sense of [...]
Some exchange-traded funds have stopped issuing shares as regulators consider limits on commodities investing. Call it collateral damage. Efforts by regulators to curb speculation in the futures markets have created unintended consequences for investors in commodity-oriented exchange-traded funds and notes. Few of these products actually hold physical stuff. It would be impractical for managers to [...]