Welcome to the ETF Prime Podcast

A Record Year for ETFs

Listen to The ETF Store Show every Tuesday at 9am on ESPN 1510 as we cover everything you need to know about Exchange Traded Funds and the world of investing.

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On our most recent radio broadcast, we explained why 2012 has been yet another record-breaking year for ETF growth, with U.S. ETF assets eclipsing $1.3 trillion.  With the underperformance of actively managed mutual funds and the challenges of trying to select individual stocks and bonds, investors are gravitating to low cost, index-based ETFs.  And it should be noted that it’s not just “everyday” retail investors who are flocking to ETFs.  Consider the elite “Tiger 21” group of investors with at least $10 million in investable assets who now count ETFs among their top holdings.  You might be surprised to learn the biggest reason why these wealthy, sophisticated investors prefer ETFs and where they rank mutual funds on their list of investments.

In our weekly market update, we discussed the Fed’s latest round of monetary stimulus and whether Ben Bernanke has any tools left his toolbox should the economy fail to respond or worse, plummet over the dreaded fiscal cliff.  In our ETF spotlight segment, we delved into an ETF offering exposure to both developed and emerging countries in Asia (ticker AAXJ).  We also compared this ETF to a similar mutual fund that can levy a significant toll (see load) just for the privilege of investing in it.

Obstacles to Capturing Investment Returns

Listen to The ETF Store Show every Tuesday at 9am on ESPN 1510 as we cover everything you need to know about Exchange Traded Funds and the world of investing.

On our most recent radio broadcast, ETF Store Investment Advisor Kit Barnes joined us to discuss four major obstacles that most investors face to capturing returns in their portfolios and how he has worked with clients to reduce or overcome these obstacles.  While the S&P 500 Index has returned 7.8% from 1992 – 2011, many investors have failed to capture anywhere near that return.  Investment fees, poor investment decisions, inflation, and taxes have all conspired against investor portfolios to eat away at market returns.  On the show, we explained how investors can tackle each of these obstacles by using exchange traded funds and having a sound investment plan in place.  Below is a quick summary of our tips and recommendations from the broadcast:

“10 Things That Mutual Fund Companies Won’t Say”

Listen to The ETF Store Show every Tuesday at 9am on ESPN 1510 as we cover everything you need to know about Exchange Traded Funds and the world of investing.

On our most recent radio broadcast, we discussed an article from the Wall Street Journal by Ian Salisbury titled “10 Things that Mutual Fund Companies Won’t Say”.  As the title suggests, this excellent piece lays out ten key points that the author believes mutual fund companies won’t tell investors about their products.  On the show, we walked through each of these points and more importantly, explained how Exchange Traded Funds, or ETFs, avoid many of the issues highlighted in the article.  If you’re still investing in actively managed mutual funds, this article will no doubt have you rethinking your position and taking a hard look at switching to low cost, index-based investments such as ETFs.

In our weekly market update, we provided the latest on the looming “fiscal cliff” and discussed how the financial markets could react if lawmakers fail to reach some form of a productive deal.  In our ETF spotlight segment, we examined a dividend focused ETF (ticker SDY) and explained how in this historically low interest rate environment, high dividend paying equities can be an excellent way to generate income in a portfolio.  We also discussed the impact that the dividend tax rate increase might have on this type of ETF.  Listen to the full show here.