WisdomTree International Financials Fund ETF (DRF)
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DRF Forum Topics
- All Comments on DRF
- General Discussion on DRF
- Now It's Eurozone Banks Hitting the Skids [view article]
- Financial Sector ETFs [view article]
- Stronger Euro Not Hampering European ETFs [view article]
- Five ETFs For the Stock Market Rebound [view article]
- Interview: Luciano Siracusano, Director of Research for ETF Firm WisdomTree Asset Management [view article]
- ETF Cornucopia: Bring Them On! [view article]
loading ...Recent DRF Articles
- Now It's Eurozone Banks Hitting the Skids
- Take A Second Look At Financial ETFs
- OECD Predicts up to $300B in Mortgage-Based Losses Globally
- ETF Update: Variable Annuities Join the Party; Financial ETF Rebound
- Not All Financial ETFs Are Struggling
- Financial Sector ETFs
- Stronger Euro Not Hampering European ETFs
- Foreign Sector ETFs
- Five ETFs For the Stock Market Rebound
- Interview: Luciano Siracusano, Director of Research for ETF Firm WisdomTree Asset Management
- Full List of Articles »
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rver
Now It's Eurozone Banks Hitting the Skids [view article]
Yes, yes European banks are a big, big problem. I suspect a failure over there will trigger another down leg in our stock market. Such a failure would be hard to ignore. ReplyFinancial Sector ETFs [view article]
Turns out that the ultrashort Financials ETF was clearly the way to go. Question: is it still a buy, or have financials bottomed out now? And is it worth getting more granular, for example by shorting the broker-dealers ETF or the regional banks ETF? ReplyEditors
General Discussion on DRF
Is this a buy or a sell? ReplyBommarito
Stronger Euro Not Hampering European ETFs [view article]
Hello Carl, it's surprising to note that over the last three months, appreciation in the Euro, Canadian, and Australian dollar have helped their respective MSCI ETFs so much that they give <i>at least</i> equivalent returns at lower volatilities, as I show here. One could argue that both interest-rate-differen... currency appreciation and equity growth make these already-emerged world ETFs profitable, in contrast to the possible currency valuation and growth complications with emerging world funds. ReplyFive ETFs For the Stock Market Rebound [view article]
I'm going to argue just a little, Tom, with your Characterization of QLD as being "high-risk". Remember that it isn't the shareholder that's leveraged, it's the mechanism Proshares is using to "virtualize" their simulated short position. So far since its inception shares of QLD have had a reasonably consistent multiple over its non-leveraged sibling QQQ, so if the mechanism is sound then you're really just buying a Nasdaq index fund. General index-buying principles apply here, which are, as we know, that the market is up 60% of the time and long-term has returned a minimum of 7% per annum, so a vehicle that can reliably return 14% under the same conditions is an excellent investment.Buying shares of QID, its ultrashort evil twin, are much riskier only for the fundamental reason mentioned above that the market is only down fewer than 30% of the time and it may therefore tie up funds a very long time before any profit could be seen from a sellable dip. It does make cheap insurance, however, if you're lucky enough to have a deep-discount broker and the ability to set trailing stops on your trading platform... Reply
Siracusano
Interview: Luciano Siracusano, Director of Research for ETF Firm WisdomTree Asset Management [view article]
Niki -- I started working on an answer for you but the clock ran out on me.To the Seeking Alpha Community:
I made a few additional posts below, that I actually posted earlier in the day. Thanks to all of your for questions. Sorry I could not get to answer all of them. They were great. I hope to interact with you again in the future.
Best,
Luciano Reply
Siracusano
Interview: Luciano Siracusano, Director of Research for ETF Firm WisdomTree Asset Management [view article]
Richard, this link takes you to a summary of the selection requirements for WisdomTree’s dividend indexes. I believe you can find the answer to your questions here, as some of these thresholds vary depending on whether it is a domestic index or one covering non-U.S. securities in other developed equity markets.www.wisdomtreeindexes.... Reply
Siracusano
Interview: Luciano Siracusano, Director of Research for ETF Firm WisdomTree Asset Management [view article]
Richard,The WisdomTree Indexes were created by WisdomTree Investments after years of extensive research. As Director of Research, I work with a team of professionals to oversee the operation of the indexes. WisdomTree Asset Management, a registered investment adviser, oversees the operations of each ETF, including the portfolio management and the operation of the other service providers to the Funds. BNY Investment Advisors serves as the sub-advisor with respect to the day-to-day portfolio management and operations of each WisdomTree ETF. As sub-adviser, BNYIA is responsible for executing portfolio transactions. The WisdomTree indexes are calculated, maintained and disseminated by an independent index calculation agent. WisdomTree has been fortunate to attract seasoned management from within the ETF industry to help manage its ETF business. More information on WisdomTree’s role as investment adviser and BNY Investment Advisors role as sub-adviser can be found in the WisdomTree ETFs’ Statement of Additional Information or “SAI”. The SAI can be found on wisdomtree.com in the “Library” section. Reply
Siracusano
Interview: Luciano Siracusano, Director of Research for ETF Firm WisdomTree Asset Management [view article]
Richard,Since we have so many different indexes, measuring different regions and market capitalizations, I really am not able to generalize on how the returns of the WisdomTree indexes compare to specific indexes. So the best thing I can do is point you to information about the performance of our indexes available at wisdomtreeindexes.com. The FTSE/RAFI indexes you mentioned select, rank and weight stocks by a variety of fundamental metrics. Philosophically, we support that approach. However, we believe our approach is more transparent (our complete methodology is fully disclosed at wisdomtreeindexes.com) and easier to understand (since we focus on a single factor: dividends). We believe you are absolutely right in focusing on relatively low fees as one of the reasons for the success of traditional ETFs. This is an important area often overlooked by some investors. Expense ratios for WisdomTree ETFs are disclosed at wisdomtree.com. We invite you to draw your own conclusions as to whether the WisdomTree ETFs offer a meaningful advantage in terms of fees. If you wish to calculate “spreads,” you will need to do the math, depending on which cap-weighted ETF you choose to compare to. Reply
Siracusano
Interview: Luciano Siracusano, Director of Research for ETF Firm WisdomTree Asset Management [view article]
Neil, thanks for the question and the support. I can’t comment on WisdomTree’s stock or the operations of our company. However, I am, like you, bullish on the future of the ETF industry. Do you know anyone who is bearish on the future of the ETF industry? ReplySiracusano
Interview: Luciano Siracusano, Director of Research for ETF Firm WisdomTree Asset Management [view article]
Thanks for the question. I understand that there are active traders who use ETFs to implement a variety of trading strategies, just as there are many financial professionals who use ETFs to help implement long-term investing plans. That is a credit to the ETF structure that it can serve so many, sometimes contradictory, needs. Many people view ETFs as tools or building blocks that can help add flexibility and diversity to a well-balanced portfolio in order to help achieve short-term and long-term strategies. I think there is merit to this approach. However, as someone who understands how well passive index investing has served investors over long holdings periods, I will refrain from saying anything that encourages active trading. ReplySiracusano
Interview: Luciano Siracusano, Director of Research for ETF Firm WisdomTree Asset Management [view article]
Hello, Vincenzo:WisdomTree Investments is committed to innovation and we will continue to evaluate the merits of various passive, rules-based, investment strategies that can serve investors. We believe our first family of fundamentally-weighted... dividend ETFs are gaining market acceptance because they track transparent, unique and easily understood indexes that measure broad segments of the developed world. To the extent we can create products that are additive to or complement what we have done already we will, but I can’t comment on any specific applications at this time because of SEC regulations.
Secondly, assets under management for fundamentally weighted indexes are growing rapidly, but one must realize that we are talking about growth from small absolute levels. There are trillions of dollars linked to capitalization-weighte... indexes and many trillions more in active mutual funds. I think we are many years away before the level of assets under management tied to fundamentally-weighted indexes can make a meaningful impact on the overall prices of stocks in the market. So I think we are a very long way away from any kind of equilibrium that would, in theory, arbitrage away price inefficiencies in stocks that may exist. Reply
Jackson
Interview: Luciano Siracusano, Director of Research for ETF Firm WisdomTree Asset Management [view article]
Thanks Luciano! This would be an interesting thing for, say Roger Nusbaum or J.D Steinhilber, to look at: the performance of ETFs and ETF portfolios versus the hedge fund indexes. Guys???? :-) ReplyInterview: Luciano Siracusano, Director of Research for ETF Firm WisdomTree Asset Management [view article]
Luciano,I have two questions:
Given your firm's focus on dividends, I would think you would be interested in income oriented equity securities such as REITs, energy MLPs, and RIC BDCs such as Allied Capital and the like. Is there a reason why you would not consider launching products in these areas. Do you have any thoughts on why the ETF marketplace has not created any products using energy MLPs, which along with REITs, have been one of the top performing asset classes over the past ten years?
How does your dividend oriented philosophy account for the fact that corporations have increasingly used stock buybacks rather than dividend payments as a means of returning capital to shareholders. Doesn't the huge volume of share repurchase activity tend to distort the dividend yield measure of valuation?
Thanks,
J.D. Steinhilber
AgileInvesting.com Reply
Siracusano
Interview: Luciano Siracusano, Director of Research for ETF Firm WisdomTree Asset Management [view article]
Steve, this is a good question.Regrettably, I need to sign off now and head out to some meetings. I will be back in my office tomorrow afternoon to address more questions.
Best to all of you who are participating in this discussion,
Luciano Reply