CFRA Research

When it comes to low fees in the world of exchange-traded funds, many investors think of Charles Schwab Corp (NYSE: SCHW) and Vanguard. Other ETF sponsors have shown a willingness to tussle on costs, but State Street Corp (NYSE: STT)'s State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) unit, the third-largest...

With equity markets rewarding risk-taking this year, it is not surprising that some of the best-performing factor-based exchange-traded funds offer investors exposure to growth and momentum stocks. The iShares Edge MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF (BATS: MTUM), the largest momentum-based ETF, is up...

For the moment, the health care sector is the second-largest sector in the S&P 500, well behind technology and just ahead of financial services. That stature is reflected in the world of exchange-traded funds where close to 50 funds provided investors with dedicated health care exposure. After...

One of the primary reasons exchange-traded funds continually take market share from actively managed mutual funds is lower fees. Data confirm as much. Just look at this year's most popular ETFs in terms of new assets added. Many of those funds can be considered “cheap” as they have...

Although higher beta momentum strategies and stocks have been performing well this year, some low volatility exchange-traded funds are at least keeping pace with the S&P 500. For example, the  iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF (NYSE: USMV) and the PowerShares S&P 500 Low Volatility...

The eighth month of the year is living up to its reputation for being tricky for stocks. Barring some significant action, the S&P 500 will likely close August with the first negative performance on a monthly basis this year for the benchmark U.S. equity index. Perhaps not surprisingly, gold...

Health care, the S&P 500's third-largest sector allocation, is rebounding nicely after slumping in 2016 when the sector notched its first negative showing on an annual basis. This year, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLV) is higher by nearly 15 percent. Although the health care...

One of the primary selling points with exchange-traded funds has been and continues to be low fees. In many cases, index funds and ETFs offer expense ratios that are well below those offered by competing actively managed mutual funds, a trait that matters, particularly to long-term investors....

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) jumped 4.7 percent to record heights Wednesday after the iPhone maker reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $1.67 per share on sales of $45.4 billion. Wall Street was expecting Apple to deliver earnings per share of $1.57 on revenue of $44.89 billion. Sell-...

With higher beta — cyclical sectors leading U.S. equities higher — it is not surprising that some conservatively-positioned high dividend strategies are not keeping pace with the S&P 500. That combined with barely noticeable market volatility could be prompting investors to look for...

There may not be a cure for the summertime blues, but the exchange-traded funds industry is making things interesting with a spate of new product launches. Dispelling the notion that July is a slow, uneventful time on Wall Street, new ETF launches topped double digits last week. Many of these new...

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) continues bolstering its footprint in the exchange-traded fund business, but the ETF that really helped Goldman assert itself in this industry is the Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF (NYSE: GSLC). GSLC, which turns 2 years old in September, has...

As has been widely reported, exchange-traded funds are on breakneck asset-gathering pace to start 2017. With the first half of the year in the books, data indicate ETFs added almost $250 billion in new assets in the January through June period. To put that total in perspective, 2016 was a record...

Within the smart beta exchange-traded funds arena, multi-factor funds are one of the important growth frontiers. Competitors in the multi-factor ETF fray include not only traditional ETF providers, but some big Wall Street names, such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) and JPMorgan Chase &...

Equity-based exchange-traded funds are still the kings of the ETF universe, a throne unlikely to be relinquished anytime soon, but data suggest bond funds will be integral components of ETF growth. Increased adoption among financial advisors is seen as a significant growth frontier for bond ETFs....