ETFs Still Popular Despite Not Making Money

The popularity of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) continued to soar over the last year, despite the fact that most of them failed to make any money. The number of U.S.-listed equity ETFs grew 22 percent last year to 1,090, and the assets in the market swelled 4 percent to $930 billion, according to BlackRock. Yet only one third of those funds generated a positive return, according to a Bloomberg analysis.

Of course, that performance largely reflects the market itself. The Standard & Poor’s 500 slipped 0.04 percent to 1,257.60. In a year when few assets returned much of anything, one shouldn’t expect the typical passively managed ETF to do any better.

The vast majority of ETFs are passively managed funds that are pegged to indexes or comprise particular assets, such as gold. They trade on an exchange, like stocks do. They can be traded throughout the day, unlike mutual funds, which only can be traded at the end of the day.

今年50款最佳表现股票的近一半是在医疗部门 - 包括Pharmsset，据Gilead收购，近500％。公用事业股票在2011年也在2011年做得很好，因为投资者寻求强大，稳定的股息股票，作为低收入信贷的替代品。

最好的etfs遵循这些趋势非常紧密。根据Bloomberg的说法，Merrill Lynch的Biotech持有人信任（上涨18.4％）是今年最好的股权指数。It was followed by the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Pharmaceuticals Index (up 16.3 percent), the Powershares Dynamic Pharmaceuticals Portfolio (up 15.8 percent), the Utilities Select Sector SPDR fund (up 15.4 percent), and the Vanguard Utilities ETF (up 14.9 percent). And the bottom performers reflected losing market sectors, such as clean energy; emerging markets; and uranium, which fell sharply in price after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The Powershares WilderHill Clean Energy was the single worst performing equity ETF in the U.S., down 45.9 percent.

什么占ETF市场越来越受欢迎的？总的来说，ETF比共同基金便宜;他们的表现至少是好的，如果不是更好的话。彭博分析显示约三分之二的共同基金损失了金钱。排名 - 排名排除在线资金 - 发现最重要的积极管理股权基金，红杉基金，只返回12.1％。这是Merrill Biotech基金的顶级股权ETF发布的三分之二。当大盘基本上平坦时，平均积极管理基金损失了2.4％。

相互资金往往比ETF有更多的费用。传统开放式共同基金的费用比例超过管理层的1％以上。不加载的共同基金直接由赞助商直接出售 - 这不收取佣金或销售费用 - 通常在2％的范围内收费比率。美国世纪新兴市场基金的费用比率高达2.82％。大型ETF的费用比小于1％ - 往往低至0.2％。VTI的总股市ETF收费只需7个基点。即使是最昂贵的ETF，活性熊基金的费用比例为1.85。

“大多数共同基金由试图挑选获胜股票的经理人经营。我们从经验研究中知道，在收取费用后，大多数人对投资者没有价值，“ETF赞助智慧树的顾问沃顿金融教授Jeremy Siegel说。“市场非常困难。有些人可以做到。但发现能够胜过市场的股票很难，“Siegel说。

但除了性能,investo的主要问题rs is one of utility — given the breadth of choice in the U.S. equity index market — and thousands of additional choices in other asset classes and global markets — how easy is it for an investor to navigate that maze? Do investors benefit from a fast, low-cost way to access a market without the guidance of an expensive fund manger, or do they boost the risks associated with impulse shopping?

The market has grown quickly, and there are hundreds of ETFs that aren’t returning any value to investors at all, according to Mark Zurack, a professor of finance and economics at Columbia University Business School and a retired partner at Goldman Sachs, where he started the equity derivatives research group. “There are 1,000 ETFs, and most investors probably can accomplish their goals with ten. What do you do with the other 990?” he says. “In some cases, ETFs may not be adding value, but the basic concept has enormous value. It doesn’t mean there isn’t some fire, but you have to dig into the details,” he told亚博赞助欧冠in November.

对于许多支持者来说，ETF的主要优势是它们的灵活性，这使得投资者可以随时进入或退出整个市场。“ETF已经证明是获得市场的一个非常有效的方法，”第二大街道高级ETF赞助商在Blackrock之后的第二大ETF赞助商高级董事Jim Ross说。

然而，对于一些投资者来说，这种自由和灵活性是谨慎的理由。

“When I look at the worst-performing ETFs, they tend to mirror every bad trend in the market,” Lewis Altfest, CEO and chief investment officer at Altfest Personal Wealth Management. He argues that many investors are prone to sell when emotions are high and momentum is running against them. That is why he is cautious when it comes to the use of ETFs, and warns that mutual fund’s inflexibility can be a valuable brake on impulse buying and selling. “Many investors tend to sell at the wrong time,” says Altfest, an associate professor of finance at Pace University.

Nonetheless, Altfest does use ETFs. He tends to favor larger funds with lower fees, noting that the difference between a 0.7 percent expense ratio and a 0.2 percent expense ratio might seem small, but that it adds up quickly.

但是，他是一个谨慎的消费者。一位退伍军人投资者，他目睹了市场趋势来了。ETF现在用于鸡尾酒会谈话的饲料，就像CD在80年代回归一样。这让他紧张。他认为它是一个标志，太多投资者堆积资金，以他们不明白的东西。

随着Zurack Notes，ETF是快速，灵活，廉价的车辆，用于表达市场情绪。对于许多投资者来说，这可能是一件危险的事情，特别是在大多数基金的市场上没有任何金钱的市场。