A couple of weeks from now I am going to a conference in Phoenix (I'm just going for part of one day but the whole thing lasts what I think is three days) about index investing. Things being what they are I have arranged (hope it does not fall through) to meet with a person of importance at one ETF provider and might be able to make contact with someone similar at a different ETF provider (still waiting to hear back).
I am starting work on a list of questions. This is a chance for you to speak up. What questions would you want to ask? I am thinking I want to ask about possible new funds. I think the possibility of a new fund idea becomes more compelling if I can say what about X and oh by the way 100 readers emailed me about the same idea.
You can either leave a comment on this post or email me at the address on my blogger profile page which you can link to up above. I may not be able to reply to every email but I will put up a synopsis of sorts of the questions I can gather before I go.
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20 comments:
This question/idea is only partially tounge in cheek:
What about an ETF of CEFs...maybe one on fixed income dom, one fixed international, one domestic equities, one international equities, on of those trading at discount to nav, one of those of cefs trading at premium to nav--lots of income, spread the risk. Could be a winner.
A wish list of etfs? Roger, do you have some? I am thinking of whatever can help make money in a down or sideways market? What can help a portfolio be the tortise that wins the race.? Are there tools that hedge funds use that can be integrated into an index fund? Timing, block box algorythms, options...of course, safely, consesrvatively. But at what point are such actviely oriented funds going to become an oef or cef? Are the hybrids going to ruin the original concept? For me its about fees, consistency, and tradability...not tax effeciency...as a means to supplement traditional core index positions. Congrats Roger on helping us out.
Cohen and Steers just listed a CEF of CEFs under ticker FOF. I amnot sure if this is the one that Randall Forsyth wrote about as far as buying CEFs with big discounts or not.
Whenever they come out with a new ETF, create both a long and a short.
Here's a wish list:
1. International Small Cap Value ETF (truly small cap, truly value)
2. International MicroCap ETF
3. Industrial Metals ETF (copper, nickel, zinc, etc...commodities)
4. Energy ETF (oil, heating oil, natural gas, petrol...commodities)
5. International REITs ETF (I know State Street has announced one...still waiting)
6. And here's a whack idea: Art, Antiques, & Collectables. Okay, it probably wouldn't be suited for an ETF because of illiquidity, but you would think someone would hatch an investment vehicle for this.
From investmentU.com: According to an exhaustive study by NYU professors Jianping Mei and Michael Moses - using figures from the 27 recessions dating all the way back to 1875 - fine art investments hold up very well in bad times. It is a good store of value.
Would like to see more ETF’s with lower correlation to the S&P 500, for example:
1) Commodities ETF based on Dow Jones AIG Commodities Index
2) Japan REIT and other country specific REIT’s (ex-US)
3) Global Timber
4) Art & Collectibles (fat chance due to liquidity problems, but I can dream)
5) International bond- developed
6) International bond- emerging market
7) Anti-social fund (cigarettes, beer, weapons, gambling, etc.) similar to The Vice Fund (VICEX), but without the ridiculous expense ratio.
8) Fundamentally-weighted diversified international and country specific stock indexes using the RAFI methodology
9) Master Limited Partnerships
10) Preferred Securities
11) Floating Rate Notes
Great contributions... really like the one on global bonds, and would like to say that expanded to leveraged and non leveraged, with a balance of developed countries and emerging mkts.
For the collectibles category; stamps and coins may have the best liquidity and be good enough???
Drill down futher in sectors to the dow jones industry indexes. Trucking, for instance, is more narrow than transportation.
The largest cost component to using etfs is the bid-ask spread. I trade 1-3 months out. Of course this is less of an issue to the longer term holder.But for an intermediate traders this is a troubling hidden cost when doing it on a large scale.
Roger, how closely should I manage an all-ETF portfolio? Are there weeks where daily trading of ETFs is warranted? Thanks!
Jay Cornelius
Robin, great list - forgot all about international bonds.
ETF suggestions:
____________
1) Dollar Index
2) VIX
......
Enjoy your Thanksgiving, and, Good Trip.
________
Second Riccardo's recommendations for a dollar and VIX ETF, and add a merger/arbitrage ETF.
I've been puzzled that we don't already have international bonds, US Hi-yield bonds. There are so many me-too sector and x-cap etfs.
Institutions seem to feel that timber is great for diversity.
Maybe a global variable rate, i.i., etf.
Roger,
What is your email? I can't find it anywhere. Anyway, my question:
If you look at an ETF, what percentage of its price movement is caused by buying and selling versus the weighted average price movements of its component securities? I have not been able to find a definitive answer, not in textbooks or websites. Maybe you can answer this one for me.
I would like to see the following ETFs:
Country-specific ETFs cheaper than iShares et al.
a DWM-copy, but modified by reducing the weightings of the countries with a >.70 correlation to the US market, and then adds a 10-30% US weighting
a USO for non-US oil
cheaper Proshares (cheaper 2x leverage long/short ETFs...also 2x leverage long/short ETFs for other popular themes...developed markets, emerging markets, sector-specifc (e.g. via Spiders), and GOLD
A platinum ETF (heheh...that's a joke)
ETF wish list:
1. India
2. Russia
3. High Yield Bonds
4. International Bonds
5. Emerging Market Bonds
6. International REITs
7. Sector Commodities! (like: grains, energy, precious metals, industrial metals, etc.)
8. U.S. Residentail Housing (long and short)
9. A couple of intelligent groupings of the next BRICs.
10. International Small Cap
11. Eastern Europe
12. Middle East
13. Africa
14. Nordic Countries
Intl Bonds
Yen ETF!!!!
VIX
ETF Wish List
1. every major sector should be covered (e.g., autos, semis, gold, etc.-fidelity's select sector funds are a good example to follow)
2. every major country should be covered (e.g., US, Germany, Turkey, Japan, etc.)
3. market cap should be covered (micro, small, mid, large)
4. major currencies and commodities should be covered (e.g., Euro, Yen, Oil, Wheat, OJ, etc.)
5. both long and short should be available
IMPORTANT: For God's sake, don't have any 100-share minimums! I don't run money and I'm not rich, but I do want to play...
-Richard Slonaker
fmh2484@yahoo.com
1. HY bond - would be nice to be able to short these things.
2. Emerging mkts bond fund
Jon
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