low volatility ETFs

Forget the ides of March, the first few days of the month are already proving eventful enough for the stock market. After the S&P 500 posted a healthy jump on March 1 to reach a new year-to-date high, the worm turned quickly the following Monday. Not only did the S&P 500 give up the...

For part of last year, the low volatility trade, particularly as measured by the iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF (NYSE: USMV) and the PowerShares S&P 500 Low Volatility Portfolio (NYSE: SPLV), was scorching hot. However, by the end of the year, investors were favoring higher beta, cyclical...

An increasingly popular niche within the expansive universe of smart beta exchange-traded funds is the low volatility/high dividend concept. SPHD And 2 New ETFs The PowerShares S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility Portfolio (PowerShares Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II (NYSE: SPHD)) pioneered the...

Emerging markets equities hit a rough patch following the U.S. presidential election, but for the bulk of this year, stocks in developing economies have been among the world's most resurgent asset classes. That sentiment extends to emerging markets dividend payers as lower volatility developing...

Plenty of bloom has come off the low volatility rose. That was especially true during the third quarter when high beta offered significant out-performance over the low volatility factor, but low volatility could have its day again. Looking To China A familiar catalyst, China, could be the reason...

As is the case with other investments, knowing exactly when low volatility is going to be in style amounts to an effort aimed at factor timing and can be a tricky endeavor. Likewise, knowing when higher beta stocks will be favored is a taxing endeavor. Welcome To The Market, LVHB The Elkhorn Lunt...

Anniversaries for exchange-traded funds are not always worth celebrating, but with the iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF (iShares Trust (NYSE: USMV)) and some of its iShares low volatility stablemates, this is an anniversary worth celebrating. Half A Decade Of ETF Success For These 4 The iShares...

Low volatility, for myriad reasons, is the investment factor stealing most of the limelight this year, but the quality factor is not too far behind. The iShares Edge MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (NYSE: QUAL) is clearly one of the exchange-traded funds benefiting from the flight to quality. While...

A common knock on low volatility exchange-traded funds is that these products are often heavily allocated to the consumer staples or utilities sectors or both. A common knock on those sectors, aside from criticisms regarding frothy valuations, is that those groups are inversely correlated to rising...

Regarding volatility exchange-traded funds, it is those of the low volatility variety that are garnering all the attention this year. That includes the ultra-popular PowerShares S&P 500 Low Volatility Portfolio (PowerShares Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II (NYSE: SPLV)). Amid all the fervor over...

Low volatility exchange-traded funds, for positive and negative reasons, have been the talk of the ETF universe this year, but all that attention is not exclusively reserved for large-cap funds such as the iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF (iShares Trust (NYSE: USMV). Some low volatility ETFs...

Here is an interesting statistic courtesy of AltaVista Research: Combined assets under management for low and minimum volatility exchange-traded funds reside around $44 billion today, up from $1 billion at the end of 2011. That is good for annual growth rate of 132 percent, a statistic sure to...

The low volatility factor and the exchange-traded funds dedicated are spending plenty of time in the limelight this year. Much of attention heaped upon these ETFs falls into the category of adulation, but there are concerns that among U.S.-focused low volatility products, the trade is crowded and...

In addition to low volatility, the quality factor is the investment factor garnering the most headlines this year, as investors continuing displaying a preference for consistency and dependability over higher beta fare. While different issuers of exchange-traded funds may have varying definitions...

Investors are hearing plenty this year about the potency of the low volatility and how strongly dividend stocks are performing. As has been noted, the combination of those two themes is proving particularly rewarding. Just look at the Legg Mason Low Volatility High Dividend ETF (NASDAQ: LVHD)....