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Inside PowerShares’ New Multi-Asset ETF

The recent market upheaval triggered by global growth worries left investors baffled about which investment to tap. While equities have lost their appeal this year, fixed income securities have gained. In the equities spectrum, dividend stocks beat out other equity securities. Meanwhile, some country ETFs outperformed. With uncertainties likely to be in place in the coming days, investors can choose strategies that can reduce risk in their portfolio. And a multi-asset portfolio does a great job in accomplishing this goal. By investing in multi-asset ETFs, investors do not have to worry about the threats emanating from single-asset class picking. This is why PowerShares has rolled out a multi-asset ETF, PowerShares DWA Tactical Multi-Asset Income Portfolio (NASDAQ: DWIN ), which follows a ‘fund of funds’ approach. DWIN in Focus The new ETF looks to track the Dorsey Wright Multi-Asset Income Index. The index chooses investments from a cluster of income strategies on the basis of parameters like relative strength and current yield. The product holds five ETFs in the basket. The ETF will charge investors 69 basis points a year for this exposure. The Fund and the Index are primed for monthly rebalancing. PowerShares High Yield Equity Dividend Achievers Portfolio (NYSEARCA: PEY ), PowerShares Preferred Portfolio (NYSEARCA: PGX ), PowerShares Build America Bond Portfolio (NYSEARCA: BAB ), PowerShares Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt Portfolio (NYSEARCA: PCY ) and PowerShares Global Short Term High Yield Bond Portfolio (NYSEARCA: PGHY ) constitute the fund at the current level with weights of 20.88%, 20.81%, 20.35%, 18.99% and 18.97%, respectively (read: 4 Multi-Asset ETFs to Lower Portfolio Risk ). How This Fits in a Portfolio? DWIN could be an interesting choice for those seeking a broad income play. The fund offers mixed exposure ranging from equities to bonds to the alternative assets. Multi asset ETFs are funds that invest in a combination of diverse asset classes such as investment grade and high yield bonds, domestic and international markets stocks, preferred stocks, REITs and MLPs. These funds offer great diversification benefits by investing across different asset classes and provide a high level of current income with stability and potential for long-term appreciation. In the present low-yield environment, a look at high-income products seems feasible. By investing in diverse asset classes which have low correlations with conventional asset classes, the fund will likely reduce volatility and offer stability to the portfolio. Moreover, a fund-of-funds approach seems a great strategy in minimizing the portfolio risks. Can it Succeed? There is still a desire for such securities despite a good number of choices already in the space. So, the fund has scope for growth in this field (see all the Zacks ETF Categories here ). Still, the fund could face competition from Arrow Dow Jones Global Yield ETF (NYSEARCA: GYLD ), which has amassed over $89 million in assets. It costs investors 75 bps in annual fees. Among others, the popular multi-asset income ETFs – Guggenheim Multi-Asset Income ETF (NYSEARCA: CVY ), iShares Morningstar Multi-Asset Income ETF (BATS: IYLD ) and SPDR SSgA Income Allocation ETF (NYSEARCA: INKM ) – may also give stiff competition to the newbie. Notably, CVY, IYLD and INKM charge 65 bps, 60 bps and 70 bps in fees, respectively. Since the newly-launched fund charges in line with its peers, only a sizable yield can draw investors’ interest. Original Post

Inside The New Sovereign High Yield Bond ETF By Cambria

Disappointing macroeconomic data, global market turbulence and threats to the stability of the U.S. economy have been making headlines since the beginning of the year, leading to volatility across all asset classes. Meanwhile, Treasury yields are also showing a downtrend. Yields on Japan’s benchmark 10-year government bond slid to sub-zero for the first time in February. Following the European Central Bank, Bank of Japan introduced negative interest rates in late January. Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland adopted similar measures. Because of these factors, high-income bond ETFs have gained a lot of popularity of late as investors continue to search for attractive and stable yield in the ultra-low rate interest environment. This trend continues with Cambria, which has launched a fund with a global coverage, focusing on the high-income space. In fact, the global footprint made the fund more attractive given the ultra-low interest rate backdrop prevailing in most developed economies. Below, we have highlighted the newly launched fund – the Cambria Sovereign High Yield Bond ETF (Pending: SOVB ) – in greater detail. SOVB in Focus Listed on the NYSE Arca, the product is an actively managed ETF and does not track any specific index. It seeks income and capital appreciation by investing in securities and instruments that provide exposure to sovereign and quasi-sovereign bonds. Cambria uses a quantitative model, with yield as the largest determinant to select bond exposures for the fund. The fund has an expense ratio of 0.59% and will pay dividend on a quarterly basis. It invests in liquid debt securities across the globe. From a country perspective, India takes the top spot with about 10% of the basket, followed by Brazil (8%), Russia (6.2%), China (5.9%) and Peru (5%). As for maturity, the fund is well diversified between bonds maturing in less than 5 years (33.6%), in 5-10 years (39.8%) and 10-20 years (26.6%). Launched in the last week of February, the fund has already amassed $2.6 million in its asset base. It is up 2.1% in the last 10 days. How Could it Fit in a Portfolio? The ETF could be well suited for income-oriented investors seeking higher longer-term returns with low risk. With interest rates being low in most developed nations, the appeal of high-income bonds has increased as these offer strong yields. Meanwhile, sovereign bonds are generally issued by the government of a country and considered one of the safest options in the bond fund category, and are ideal for a risk-averse investor. However, investors looking for a high-growth vehicle may not be satisfied with this product. Additionally, changes in currency exchange rates may affect the value of the fund’s investment adversely. Competition The ETF does not have any direct competitor, as there is currently no other actively managed sovereign high yield bond ETF available to U.S. investors. The fund provides investors a new way to play the high yield bond market with liquid sovereign and quasi-sovereign bonds. The product charges moderately high fees from investors annually due to its unique strategy. However, there are quite a few international bond ETFs which specifically target particular regions. Of these, the popular fund, iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF (NYSEARCA: EMB ), has a total asset base of $5.1 billion. This fund tracks the JPMorgan EMBI Global Core Index, trades in heavy volume of 1.1 million shares per day and charges 40 bps in annual fees. Another fund targeting the emerging market bond space is the PowerShares Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt Portfolio ETF (NYSEARCA: PCY ) with AUM of nearly $2.7 billion and exchanging 919,000 shares a day. Apart from these, SOVB could also face competition from international high yield bond funds – the Market Vectors International High Yield Bond ETF (NYSEARCA: IHY ) with an asset base of $125.2 million, the iShares Global High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (BATS: GHYG ) with AUM of $87.6 million and the iShares Global ex-USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (BATS: HYXU ) with AUM of $160.8 million. Thus, SOVB has a good chance of making a name for itself if it manages to generate returns net of fees greater than the passively managed products in the international bond ETF space. The ETF’s plan of safer sovereign bond and its emphasis on liquidity are noteworthy, but its success is a huge factor of the returns it manages to generate. Original Post

NOBL: An ETF For Dividend Growth And The Quest For Yield

By Max Chen and Tom Lydon Investors seeking a steady yield-generating exchange traded fund to help diversify their portfolios in a volatile year can look to the ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF ( NOBL ) for quality stock market exposure and sustainable dividends. “By investing in dividend growth strategies, you not only get high-quality companies that have delivered strong total returns, you also get the potential for attractive yield,” according to ProShares . “If you look at effective yield, you’ll see dividend growth strategies have significantly outperformed the broader market.” NOBL, which has accumulated $1.39 billion in assets under management, shows a 2.03% 12-month yield and a 0.35% expense ratio. The dividend ETF has been outperforming the broader equities market. Year-to-date, NOBL rose 5.5% while the S&P 500 index was only 0.9% higher. Over the past year, NOBL increased 4.3% as the S&P 500 dipped 0.6%. NOBL’s 17.2% tilt toward industrials and 10.4% position in materials helped the ETF capitalize on the recent rally in more undervalued sectors of the market. Additionally, the fund holds large positions in more conservative or defensive sectors, including 12.9% in health care and 25.5% in consumer staples. The recent selling pressure in the equities market has also made dividend stock plays more attractive , especially as the Federal Reserve projects only two interest rate hikes this year, compared to previous expectations for four rate hikes. As the S&P 500 index experiences its worst start to a new year since 2009, yield spread between the benchmark and 10-year Treasuries widened to their largest spread in a year. The difference between U.S. equity dividend yields and government bonds can be used as a proxy for valuation comparison between the two assets. On average over the past year, the yield on 10-year Treasuries exceeded that of the S&P 500 dividends by 7.7 basis points. However, the recent volatility helped push yields on 10-year Treasury notes below 2%. NOBL, which tracks the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index, targets the cream of the crop, only selecting components that have increased their dividends for at least 25 consecutive years. Consequently, investors are left with a portfolio of high-quality, sustainable dividend payers as opposed to more high-yield focused funds that may contain companies on more precarious financial positions. High-yield equity funds can be enticing to income-seeking investors, but the higher yields come with higher the risks and are often unstable, writes Kevin McDevitt, a senior analyst for Morningstar . Alternatively, McDevitt argues that dividend growth is a more important factor for long-term dividend investors. “Dividend growth plays a big role in determining total income over the life of an investment,” McDevitt said. “As a general guideline, the higher a company’s, and by extension a fund’s, yield, the less quickly it will grow over time. Over the short run, this initial yield matters more than dividend growth. But as the time horizon grows, dividend growth has a greater impact on the overall payout.” ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF Click to enlarge Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.