FlexShares

FlexShares, a major purveyor of smart beta exchange traded funds, is throwing its weight around in the low volatility ETF arena in a big way with the introduction of three funds that combine that investment factor with the quality factor. What Happened The new FlexShares ETFs are the FlexShares US...

With high-yield corporate bond exchange traded funds having already reclaimed all of last year's losses and then some to start 2019, it's unsurprising that some yield-hungry investors are revisiting this once-beloved group of funds. While junk bonds and the corresponding ETFs are seductive...

The consumer price index notched a 2.9-percent year-over-year increase last month, one of the biggest year-over-year index increases in almost seven years. It's an indication investors may want to consider asset classes that can protect portfolios against inflation. When inflation ticks higher...

These are trying times for high-yield corporate bond investors. The widely followed Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index is modestly higher on a year-to-date basis, but a massive chunk of the shares outstanding in the largest junk bond exchange traded fund are sold short as traders fret...

Domestic real estate stocks and related exchange traded funds are struggling this year. For example, the Vanguard Real Estate ETF (NYSE: VNQ), the largest fund in this category and the largest sector ETF of any stripe, is lower by more than 6 percent year-to-date. Global real estate funds have been...

Developing a defensive posture with equities can often lead, whether by incident or intent, exposure to dividend-paying equities. Plenty of exchange-traded funds lean defensive while focusing on quality dividend names, including the FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund (NYSE: QDEF)....

A plethora of diversified emerging markets exchange-traded funds are soaring this year, including some smart beta strategies. That includes the FlexShares Morningstar Emerging Markets Factor Tilt Index Fund (NYSE: TLTE), one of the more seasoned alternatives to cap-weighted emerging markets ETFs....

There is often an intersection of the quality factor and dividend stocks, a theme that can be tapped with exchange-traded funds such as the FlexShares Quality Dividend Index Fund (NYSE: QDF). Quality And Dividends In QDF QDF tracks the Northern Trust Quality Dividend Index, which goes beyond cap-...

Beyond U.S. equities, fertile ground for the spate of fundamentally-indexed or smart or strategic beta exchange-traded funds that have come to market over the past several years include emerging markets. Investors have a wide array of options from which to choose when it comes to emerging markets...

A sanguine interest rate environment and continuing speculation that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise interest rates any more than twice this year are among the catalysts helping investors rekindle their attraction toward corporate bond exchange-traded funds. The love fest includes high-...

Finding exchange-traded funds that track U.S. large-caps is not difficult. Indeed, U.S. large-caps are the most easily accessed asset class via ETFs. However, with so many funds offering exposure to the same asset class, parsing through the good and the bad is a dizzying task. Increasingly, new...

Currency hedged exchange-traded funds, one of this year's fastest growing and most prolific asset-gathering segments of the ETF universe, are continuing that rapid population growth as more issuers enter the fray. Newcomers On Deck That includes Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ: NTRS)'s...

It is often said that one of the primary advantages of dividend stocks is that many members of this asset class have lower betas than their non-dividend paying counterparts. Of course, since beta is a measure of stock's volatility relative to the broader market, it stands to reason that low-beta...

Simply put, dividend funds are among the most popular ETF styles available to investors today. Inflow data proves the point. In a research note published by Morningstar earlier this month, the firm notes "total assets in the group are about $45 billion, up from just $8 billion three years ago."...