Weekly Newsletter | March 2, 2001 | Issue No. 000106
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ETF Investor World
The Exchange Traded Funds Investment Strategy Sympsia
April 18-19th in Boston
Walk away with proven ETF investment strategies and applications
with two different tracks for institutional investors & wealth managers.
Featuring State Street, Barclays, Merrill Lynch, The Nasdaq, Purdential Securities, Dow Jones and others.
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Scroll down for an updated list of index returns...
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IndexFunds Company News and Announcements
Our index coverage has expanded immensely! We now list hundreds of domestic and international Dow Jones indexes that are updated daily. Please visit our new Dow Jones Index Center.
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Featured Articles
New This Week
New Tech Indexes
As of yesterday, the Dow Jones Technology Sector Index was down over 53% for the year, and predicting when the tech sector will actually bottom out seems to be the main hobby of financial writers and pundits these days. Amidst these unhappy times for tech, Upside Media recently launched a set of indexes designed to measure the performance of the high-technology industry and the sub-sectors that make it up. Upside Media, which covers the hi-tech industry, has launched 15 indexes in all. The Upside.com 150 index is designed to track the entire sector. News article by John Spence
indexfunds.com
Eaton Vance Survey
One of the most popular investment products of the 1990s - passively managed index funds that mimic the movements of major market indices - may have reached a peak in their popularity," says a new report by Eaton Vance, a Boston-based investment management firm. Eaton Vance conducted a national telephone survey of 500 Americans who have invested in both qualified retirement plans and other investments such as mutual funds, individual stocks, or money market funds. The median annual income of respondents was $100,000. Issues article by John Spence
indexfunds.com
MSCI Real-Time Indexes
Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) today launched over 750 global sector, regional, and country indexes that will be updated in real time. The indexes cover developed markets and Asian emerging markets, and will be updated every 60 seconds for 23 hours each day. The indexes are broken down into 10 sectors, consistent with MSCI's Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS), an organizational system developed jointly by MSCI and Standard & Poor's (S&P). News article by IndexFunds staff
indexfunds.com
Asset Allocation
The path to a broadly-diversified portfolio involves a careful examination of one's assets to form a clear picture of which asset classes are underweighted or overweighted. For example, a heavy allocation in technology or real estate could end up being painful if the sector goes in the tank. Investors who sleep best at night have their investments spread out to cover a big chunk of the market. But many individual investors are hitting a big pothole on the road to diversification. Too many investors are failing to recognize how inherent assets figure into their overall portfolio. Issues article by John Spence
indexfunds.com
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Previous Articles
Investor Perception of ETFs
The biggest players in exchange-traded funds, Barclays Global Investors (BGI) and State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), truly believe they've pioneered a vehicle that's perfect for index investors - low management fees, protection from taxes and turnover, and reduced index tracking error. If only people knew how great these things were, then the cash would just roll in, they figure. Financial Research Corporation conducted a survey of 892 investors to see if they view ETFs as active trading or indexing tools. Issues article by John Spence
indexfunds.com
ETF Premiums & Discounts
Initially, critics of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) decried their trading at a significant premium/discount to net asset value (NAV), the underlying stock values they represent. So far most critics appear misinformed. The biggest flaw in their argument is their selection of end-of-day NAV figures as the measure of the true worth of a portfolio. End-of-day NAV will always be an imprecise measure of a stock portfolio, especially one with small capitalization and international equities. Includes analysis of a Morgan Stanley Dean Witter study that examines intraday price movement of MSCI Japan iShare ETF. Issues article by Will McClatchy
indexfunds.com
Barclays Canadian ETFs
Barclays Global Investors unveiled the finishing touches on a much-anticipated line of exchange-traded funds for Canadian investors that will trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE). The new offerings include funds that track a S&P/TSE midcap index, a stock-weighted capped S&P/TSE large cap index, and several S&P/TSE sector indexes: energy, information technology, gold, and financial services. News article by Dan Hallett
indexfunds.com
Global Sector Indexes
Dow Jones Indexes launched the Dow Jones Sector Titans Indexes, a new set of indexes comprised of global blue-chip companies. The securities in the sector indexes are culled from the Dow Jones World Index, which includes companies from 34 countries. UK-based index provider FTSE also went live with a series of global sector indexes yesterday. The FTSE family includes 11 sector indexes. News article by John Spence
indexfunds.com
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Our discussion boards are a haven of brilliant and independent thought: Any question is welcome on the Beginner's Board, The Main Board is the central discussion forum for all matters having to do with index funds, and on the ETF Board you can banter to your heart's content about these crazy things they call exchange-traded funds that seem to be sweeping the globe and changing the face of indexing. URLs for discussion boards follow:
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Don't know what half the jargon on this newsletter means? Come and Learn. One good run through all the listed articles and tools in the Learn section, combined with some recommended reading from our Books page, should have you fully up to speed and ready for sensible index investing.
Short-Term Returns 1 wk to 3/2 1 mo to 1/31 1 yr to 1/31
Russell 2000 -0.12% 5.21% 3.69%
Russell 3000 -0.94% 3.42% -0.39%
Dow Jones Industrial 0.23% 1.02% 0.98%
Nasdaq -6.40% 12.23% -29.63%
S&P 500 -0.94% 3.55% -0.90%
3-month T-bill -0.84% 0.46% 6.31%
30 yr bond -2.03% 1.41% -14.71%
VG REIT 2.94% 0.43% 26.13%
Annualized Returns 5 yr to 1/31 10 yr to 1/31
Russell 2000
11.47% 15.12%
Russell 3000 17.51% 17.20%
Dow Jones Industrial 17.08% 17.48%
Nasdaq
21.21% 20.94%
S&P 500 18.36% 17.36%
3-month T-bill 5.36% 4.93%
30-yr bond -1.67% -
Complete Returns to 1/31/00: indexfunds.com |
