Investment Insights
A Fresh Perspective on Wealth Management
Whether you are just getting started on your wealth management journey or looking for a new direction, The ETF Store provides a diverse set of resources to help you make informed decisions. We pride ourselves on offering investment insights to both new and seasoned investors.
Market Sideshows, Diversification, and the Fed
Successful investors have an uncanny ability to ignore financial market sideshows, embrace diversification, focus on longer-term goals, and exercise patience when things aren’t working well. This hasn’t exactly been easy over the past two years, which featured a harrowing 34% drop in the S&P 500 during 2020 and subsequent historic recovery, high-flying meme stocks and crypto assets distracting investor attention, the continued underperformance of international stocks, and a constant deluge of alarming headlines. 2021 might best be characterized as the year financial markets “jumped the shark”. Consider some of the many market sideshows witnessed last year. Stocks such as GameStop
ETF Prime – Upcoming Guest Lineup
One of the “most helpful plain-English resources for investors who want to demystify exchange-traded funds.” – Bloomberg BusinessWeek In addition to the following guests, be sure to catch our weekly segment with the experts at ETF Trends and ETF Database! Subscribe to receive the latest ETF Prime podcast directly to your inbox. January 4th – Meb Faber, Co-Founder & CIO of Cambria Investment Management, discusses global stock valuations and potential 2022 market drivers. James Seyffart, ETF Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, previews the year in ETFs. January 11th – Jeremy Schwartz, Global Chief Investment Officer at WisdomTree, explains the RWM WisdomTree
Threading the Needle
The S&P 500 barely managed a gain during the third quarter, which featured an uptick in volatility driven by growing inflation concerns, the U.S. debt ceiling debate, and negative headlines out of China. Notably, the S&P 500 ended a streak of 227 days since its last 5% decline, the 7th longest such streak on record. Most other asset classes – from small cap U.S. stocks to international stocks to investment grade bonds – all closed negative. While the debt ceiling debate and Chinese turmoil are causing some anxiety, the prospect for sustained inflation is the largest driver of investor unease
ETF Prime – Upcoming Guest Lineup
One of the “most helpful plain-English resources for investors who want to demystify exchange-traded funds.” – Bloomberg BusinessWeek In addition to the following guests, be sure to catch our weekly segment with the experts at ETF Trends and ETF Database! Subscribe to receive the latest ETF Prime podcast directly to your inbox. October 5th – Katie Koch, Co-Head of Fundamental Equity for Goldman Sachs Asset Management, discusses their approach to thematic ETFs. Harley Bassman, Managing Partner of Simplify ETFs, offers perspective on the Fed, yield curve, and what lies ahead for the financial markets. October 12th – Maurits Pot, Founder
The Pause That Refreshes
The second quarter of 2021 might best be characterized as “the pause that refreshes”. After a chaotic first quarter – and certainly 2020 – the past three months felt mostly “normal”, if we can use that word these days. There were no elections or political riots. The pandemic is waning, at least in the U.S. Day-to-day life is taking on more of an ordinary feel. On the investing front, global equities are sitting near record highs and bond yields near historic lows. If nothing else, the quarter offered an opportunity for investors to catch their breath and take stock of
ETF Prime – Upcoming Guest Lineup
One of the “most helpful plain-English resources for investors who want to demystify exchange-traded funds.” – Bloomberg BusinessWeek In addition to the following guests, be sure to catch our weekly segment with the experts at ETF Trends and ETF Database! Subscribe to receive the latest ETF Prime podcast directly to your inbox. July 6th – Eric Ervin, CEO of Blockforce Capital & Co-Founder of Onramp Invest, weighs-in on the recent crypto bear market and what’s next for the space. Darren Schuringa, CEO & Founder of ASYMmetric ETFs, spotlights the ASYMmetric 500 ETF (ASPY). July 13th – Burton Malkiel, CIO at
ETF Prime: A New Chapter
It’s hard to believe, but this summer marks ten amazing years since the launch of ETF Prime. Some already know the backstory, but the podcast actually began as a local radio show in Kansas City. Its roots go back to early 2011 when I found myself in a packed Starbucks discussing ETFs with a business acquaintance. Even though ETFs had been around since 1993, we were debating whether the average person even knew what an ETF was. After one too many cups of coffee, I decided to settle the argument. I approached the nearest person and simply asked, “Have you
One Year Later: Memes & Vaccines
After historic market chaos in 2020, investors would be forgiven if they assumed 2021 might be a tad calmer. Instead, events of the first quarter each read as their own outlandish movie script (and, in fact, big screen deals are already in progress): the Capitol Storming, Reddit message board traders battling hedge funds by piling into GameStop and other “meme” stocks, a massive container ship wedged into the Suez Canal, the family office Archegos blowing up… to name a few. These epic dramas unfolded one after another, captivating investors who surely thought, “ok, now, I’ve seen it all”. While blockbuster
ETF Prime – Upcoming Guest Lineup
One of the “most helpful plain-English resources for investors who want to demystify exchange-traded funds.” – Bloomberg BusinessWeek Subscribe to receive the latest ETF Prime podcast directly to your inbox. April 6th – Wes Gray, CEO of Alpha Architect, talks value rotation, momentum stocks, and the ETF white-labeling business. Nancy Davis, Founder & CIO at Quadratic Capital Management, discusses the current market environment and the Quadratic Interest Rate Volatility & Inflation Hedge ETF (IVOL). April 13th – Harry Whitton, Head of ETF Sales Trading at Old Mission Capital, explains his firm’s role in the ETF markets and offers unique insight
Individual Bonds vs. Bond Funds
We previously highlighted the basics of municipal bonds and their potential benefits to investors. The next question is, how do you actually get exposure to munis? Individual bonds? Mutual funds? ETFs? Which way is best? Ultimately, that depends on the investor. The advantages of individual bonds One advantage of individual bonds is the ability to control interest rate risk. Currently, a major concern for bond investors is low interest rates. Paltry bond yields mean less income and perhaps more importantly, if rates rise, the market value your bond portfolio declines. To lower potential interest rate risk, one option is to
