Historically, the exchange-traded fund ("ETF") industry has been dominated by passively-managed (passive) investments, but over the past few years, actively-managed (active) ETFs have gained a foothold. One catalyst for this turn of events was the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) adoption of a new regulatory framework in 2019 (the “ETF Rule”), which made it easier for fund managers to launch active ETFs. However, this doesn’t explain the increase in demand for these ETFs, which occurred even as active open-end funds faced massive redemptions. We discuss some of the factors ..read more

  Description: Brian Wesbury joins the ROI Podcast for a wide ranging discussion about the state of the US economy, why government spending suppresses growth, and what factors could ultimately prevent an economic recession ..read more

  Net inflows for US-listed ETFs totaled $35.0 billion in April, bringing total ETF assets under management to $8.55 trillion. Equity ETFs had net inflows totaling $15.1 billion in April, bringing trailing 12-months (TTM) net inflows to $511.3 billion. Active equity ETFs accounted for $11.1 billion in net inflows in April, compared to $4.0 billion in net inflows for passive equity ETFs. Total AUM in actively managed equity ETFs was $380.3 billion, accounting for 5.6% of all equity ETF assets ($6.81 trillion), as of 4/30/24. Fixed income ETFs had net inflows totaling $16.5 billion in ..read more

  In this episode, Dave McGarel, Chief Investment Officer at First Trust shares his perspective on the risks and opportunities that may lie ahead for equities.  Dave shares why First Trust believes low volatility stocks are growing more attractive, why the technology sector has been the secular growth story of our lifetimes, and which data points investment professional should pay close attention to for the rest of 2024 ..read more

“Sell in May and go away” is an old Wall Street adage you will be hearing a lot in the coming weeks. While we have never advocated timing the market, it is certainly rational to be nervous about the continued upward trajectory of US equities after the 21% increase over the last 6 months as of 4/30/24 in the S&P 500 Index including the 6% year-to-date (YTD) increase. This is especially true considering valuations are stretched, the Federal Reserve (Fed) is attempting to be restrictive, inflation is proving tough to tame and market leadership is heavily concentrated. Geopolitical worries in ..read more

  Ryan discusses factor investing with Chris Bush, portfolio manager at First Trust, as well as risk and opportunities for various industries and themes, including artificial intelligence, regional banks, and more ..read more

  Net inflows for US-listed ETFs totaled $112.4 billion in March, bringing total ETF assets under management to $8.73 trillion. Equity ETFs had net inflows totaling $81.7 billion in March, bringing trailing 12-months (TTM) net inflows to $523.2 billion. Active equity ETFs accounted for $20.2 billion in net inflows in March, compared to $61.5 billion in net inflows for passive equity ETFs. Total AUM in actively managed equity ETFs was $400.9 billion, accounting for 5.7% of all equity ETF assets ($6.98 trillion), as of 3/31/24. Fixed income ETFs had net inflows totaling $18.2 billion in ..read more

  In this episode, Ryan is joined by Jay Gragnani, Senior Market Strategist at Nasdaq Dorsey Wright for a discussion about how financial professionals are utilizing technical analysis and Dorsey Wright’s research as an objective input for their decision-making process ..read more

  One of our favorite Yogi Berra sayings is “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.” Momentum was the most dominant equity factor in February (see chart above). In fact, it has been the main factor behind the massive equity rally that started in late October that  has added almost 1,000 points to the S&P 500 Index in four months. The momentum factor is also extremely crowded... but everyone is still going there. For now. While we employ the momentum factor in our research, we prefer a multifactor approach and also like to see tangible evidence why the momentum factor is w ..read more

  Net inflows for US-listed ETFs totaled $66.7 billion in February, bringing total ETF assets under management to $8.34 trillion. Equity ETFs had net inflows totaling $48.9 billion in February, bringing trailing 12-months (TTM) net inflows to $444.1 billion. Active equity ETFs accounted for $15.5 billion in net inflows in February, compared to $33.4 billion in net inflows for passive equity ETFs. Total AUM in actively managed equity ETFs was $365.9 billion, accounting for 5.5% of all equity ETF assets ($6.65 trillion), as of 2/29/24. Fixed income ETFs had net inflows totaling $11.6 b ..read more