Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Let's Talk ETFs

On the latest Let's Talk ETFs podcast Seeking Alpha has the chance to catch up with Johan Grahn,Head of ETFs at Allianz Investment Management. Johan provided the investment community with knowledge about how to manage risk with ETFs.

Contents:
2:15 - Introduction
6:30 - How should investors approach risk going into 2022?
11:15 - Tell us about the buffered outcome ETF series
18:15 - How has the reception been to your products in the investment community?
23:45 - What's the holding period for these instruments?
29:30 - What's your broad view of the markets?

On this week's episode of Let's Talk ETFs, we have a returning guest joining us. Scott Helfstein, Executive Director of Thematic Investing at ProShares sits back down with Seeking Alpha to discuss the updates and changes to the thematic exchange traded fund marketplace.

Tickers: (ONLN), (EMTY), (PAWZ), (MAKX), (CTEX), (DAT)

Show Notes:
2:45 - Introduction
4:00 - What's new with Proshares since we last spoke?
6:45 - Discuss & break down Smart Factories ETF, MAKX, 
13:30 - Discuss & break down Cleantech ETF, CTEX.
18:30 - Discuss & break down Big Data ETF, DAT.
23:45 - ProShares three other funds set to list around nanotechnology, smart materials and on-demand.
28:00 - Proshares ETFs forward looking to changes in global economy
30:30 - Anything else on the thematic horizon for the "next thing"?
36:30 - How is the market reacting to the thematic ETF space?
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In this week's Let's Talk ETFs podcast we are speaking with Maurits Pot, Founder & CIO of Dawn Global. Maurits joins us to have detailed discussion around the topic of emerging and frontier market investing in the exchange traded fund space.

Tickers: (CUBS)

Show Notes:
2:00 - Introduction to Dawn Global
5:30 - How has the recent crackdown in Chinese tech space effect EM?
6:30 - What's the overall landscape for emerging markets?
9:30 - Tell us about the Asian Growth Cubs ETF (CUBS)
17:45 - Deeper dive into CUBS... holdings, expense ratios, and other specs..
22:00 - Where do you see CUBS fitting into a traditional portfolio?
24:00 - What are some of the biggest challenges for CUBS in the EM space today?
25:30 - What would you say to someone who's not a believer in EM?
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In this week's Let's Talk ETFs podcast we have Lisa Chai, Senior Research Analyst at ROBO Global joining us to dive deep into the topic of robotics, artificial intelligence and innovation and the advancements in technology have affected the exchange traded marketplace.

Tickers: (ROBO), (HTEC), and (THNQ)

Show Notes:
2:00 - Introduction to Lisa Chai and ROBO Global.
5:00 - What do you feel the future holds for robotics, artificial intelligence and the technology space?
11:00 - Breakdown of ROBO Global's indexes: ROBO, HTEC and THNQ.
16:30 - Should ROBO Global's ETFs be wrapped into the general technology exposure market or are the ETFs provided more thematic in nature?
20:00 - How often does ROBO Global rebalance its exchange traded funds?
21:45 - What would you say to an investor who is concerned about rising rates but still wants exposure to the robotics and AI industry?
27:45 - What are some of the biggest opportunities and threats to the robotics, artificial intelligence and the technology industry?
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Joining us in this week's episode of Let's Talk ETFs is Simeon Hyman, Global Investment Strategist & Head of Investment Strategy Group at ProShares. Simeon walks us through the impacts of interest rates & inflation. and how it effects the exchange traded fund space.

Tickers: EQRR, IGHG, HYHG, RINF

Show Notes:
2:00 - Introduction and background to Simeon's work at ProShares..
3;30 - Transitory inflation... How does an investor make sense of it all?
7:00 - Is some inflation a good thing?
12:30 - For investors concerned about rising rates and inflation what are some good ways to play this from within ProShares lineup?
14:30 - ProShares Equities for Rising Rates ETF (EQRR).
15:30 - ProShares Investment Grade—Interest Rate Hedged (IGHG) & ProShares High Yield - Interest Rate Hedged ETF (HYHG).
18:15 - ProShares Inflation Expectations ETF (RINF).
20:30 - Are these ETFs meant to be invested all the time or are they time/market sensative?
25:00 - What are the best data indicators investors should be looking at to forecast rate hikes and inflation?
28:00 - What if inflation is not transitory?
29:00 - Closing and outro story.
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In this week's episode of Let's Talk ETFs, Frank Holmes, Chief Executive Officer at U.S. Global Investors discusses the re-opening global economy. Together we discuss the popular ETF: U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS) and learn what impact it has on the travel space.
Show Notes:
2:15 - Opening background of Frank Holmes.
4:00 - What investment sectors do you see growing as we come out of Covid-19 pandemic?
9:30 - How do companies plan for all the variables involved in countries opening up?
15:00 - There are still many countries which are closed. How do you see the next wave of openings affecting the world economy? 
17:00 - What about countries that are very dependent on tourism?
18:15 - Beyond the vaccine what other factors are important to focus on in a re-opening economy?
19:30 - Do you see Covid-19 mutations as a potential issue moving forward?
22:00 - Has the JETS ETF opened the door to other travel based ETFs?
26:00 - Is there any concern that the re-opening isn't happening fast enough?
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In this week's episode, we sit down with Ari Polychronopoulos, Partner, Product Management & Head of ESG at Research Affiliates. Together we uncover and discuss the details and nuances of environmental, social, and governance investing within the exchange traded fund space.
Tickers: (SPY)
Show Notes:
2:30 - Introduction with Ari Polychronopoulos
4:00 - What is ESG and what is it all about?
8:00 - How can investors examine a an ESG score and see if it's appropriate for their portfolio?
10:30 - Is there a centralized rating system investors can go to when evaluating ESG funds?
16:45 - Do all ESG scores matter or is there a threshold to where they are impactful?
20:15 - Of the 3 ESG areas is there one that's more of a focus in the investment community?
21:45 - What would you say to an investor who doesn't care about ESG ratings?
26:15 - Do you see any future government mandates affecting ESGs?
29:10 - Where do you see ESG as part of an individual's portfolio?
31:30 - Outro
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Contents:
2:30 - Background of Scott Helfstein, Executive Director of Thematic Investing at ProShares.
3:30 - What is thematic investing, and what qualifies something as a thematic exchange traded fund.
7:00 - Does having to put the funds in an index tie an investor's hands?
10:45 - Breakdown of Proshares thematic ETFs that have developed the most investor traction.
19:45 - How important is thematic investing to the growth of Proshares business, and are there any future thematic ETFs that might come to market by ProShares?
27:00 - How do you avoid making a thematic ETFs theme too narrow where it is unlikely to resonate with investors?
32:15 - Where do thematic ETFs fit into an investor's portfolio, and how should exposure be looked at?  
38:00 - What does the future hold for the thematic investing space?
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The launch of the ARK Space Exploration ETF (ARKX) in late March was one of the most hyped ETF launches in recent memory. Of course there's the Cathie Wood component to the excitement, with the fund manager she runs, ARK, crushing markets and growing AUM eleven-fold in 2020. But there's something about space as a sector that has many investors particularly excited at this moment in time.
Cestrian Capital Research's Alex King has been following the space sector very closely for years now, He even enrolled at the Space University, completing his executive education there in 2018. The following year, he launched his Seeking Alpha Marketplace service, The Fundamentals, with a focus on space and cloud computing names. We cover the space sector from top to bottom in this episode of Let's Talk ETFs. Most importantly for investors considering investing in space via ETFs, Alex does a deep-dive head to head comparison of the two pure play space ETFs investors currently have a choice between: The ARK Space Exploration ETF (ARKX) and the Procure Space ETF (UFO).
Show Notes

3:00 - Alex's general approach to investing

7:45 - Why the space sector?

13:15 - Why is space a theme investors should be paying attention to at the current moment in time?

17:00 - Cathie Wood and ARK's investing style

22:00 - ARKX Under the Hood: Too much concentration in the top holdings?

24:30 - Analyzing top holding Trimble (TRMB)

28:45 - A head to head comparison: The ARK Space Exploration ETF (ARKX) vs. the Procure Space ETF (UFO)


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In this week's episode of Let's Talk ETFs, Ryan McCormack, Factor & Core Equity ETF Strategist at Invesco US joins new host Jason Capul and the Seeking Alpha team to discuss the early success of the Invesco NASDAQ Next Gen 100 ETF (QQQJ). QQQJ has been the most successful ETF launch of all-time by Invesco, gathering over one billion in assets under management in less than three months.
Tickers Covered: QQQ, QQQJ
Show Notes:

4:30 - What is the concept behind QQQJ?

9:30 - Where do you see QQQJ fitting into an investor's portfolio?

12:00 - What has been the Investor feedback on QQQJ?

14:45 - Weighting of QQQJ relative to QQQ.

16:00 - Is there a mechanism to unload QQQJs top performing holdings before they join QQQ?

19:00 - How can rising yields affect QQQJ?

23:15 - What separates QQQJ from other ETFs that focus on the mid-cap range?

25:15 - Why should market participants invest in this ETF?

29:00 -Are there any plans to roll out additional funds in the future?


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2020 was the year of the SPAC, with money raised through "blank check" companies outpacing traditional IPOs for the first time. With so many SPACs listing, finding the right ones to invest in them can be an often-times confusing and overwhelming process. Sifting the World's Chris DeMuth Jr. has been investing in SPACs, through the hedge fund he founded, Rangeley Capital, for more than a decade. In the latest episode of Let's Talk ETFs, DeMuth and host Jonathan Liss take investors through the SPAC "alphabet", going under the hood of each of the three currently available SPAC ETFs.
Show Notes

3:00 - What are SPACs and why are they so hot right now?

10:00 - Chris' early and ongoing involvement with SPACs

12:30 - Specifics of the SPAC structure

16:45 - The case of DraftKings, the third most successful SPAC listing of all time

26:30 - Chris' favorite SPAC ETF

43:45 - What's an individual SPAC Chris is currently excited about?

50:00 - Sifting the World: Chris' investing process


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Cambria Funds co-founder, CEO and CIO Meb Faber joins Margin of Safety Investing's Kirk Spano to discuss his firm's tail risk and shareholder yield ETF suites. Funds covered include: TAIL, FAIL, SYLD, FYLD and EYLD.
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On the latest Let's Talk ETFs podcast, Seeking Alpha has a conversation with Alex Pettee, President and Director of Research & ETFs at Hoya Capital Real Estate. Together we break down the real estate market and how an investors can take on positions through the exchange traded fund marketplace.

Tickers: RIET, HOMZ

Show Notes:
2:15 - Personal and firm background information.
4:15 - Tell us about new RIET ETF.
9:20 - Play RIET and HOMZ jointly?
14:45 - Discuss the overall stance of the housing market.
20:00 - What weaknesses, if any, should investors be looking for in the housing market?
29:15 - Would the housing market cool off if the Fed raises rates?
34:45 - What sources of information can investors use to keep an eye the housing market?
42:40 - Any information in terms of Covid being a factor on real estate?
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Investors have been hearing prognostications of “runaway” inflation since the end of the global financial crisis, more than a decade ago. With central banks and governments around the world offering up unprecedented stimulus spending to combat pandemic-induced economic disruption, these inflation calls have now reached a fever pitch. Dynamic Beta's Andrew Beer joins Let's Talk ETFs to make the case for why his firm's hedge-fund replication ETFs are the perfect antidote for inflation's effects on traditional 60/40 portfolios.
Show Notes

3:45 - The Dynamic Beta back-story: After so many years in the hedge fund space, what prompted Andrew to offer these types of strategies in an ETF wrapper?

5:30 - iM DBi Hedge Strategy ETF (DBEH) and iM DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF (DBMF): Breakdown of retail vs. institutional ownership

6:15 - Why are these and so many other ETFs not available via platforms like Merrill Edge?

14:00 - 2021: The year when inflation concerns could finally become a reality for investors

20:00 - Is growing government debt the world over inflationary or deflationary?

24:30 - What effects would inflation likely have on a typical 60/40 portfolio of stocks and bonds?

28:00 - What can the Fed do to fight inflation? Is raising rates really on the table?

31:30 - Two strategies for combating inflation within your portfolio: iM DBi Hedge Strategy ETF (DBEH) and iM DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF (DBMF)

42:15 - Are these ETFs meant to be core or satellite portfolio holdings?


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The rise in thematic ETFs in 2020 was remarkable, with assets increasing by 78% in Q4 alone to $104B in AUM. This meteoric growth has been powered by firms like Defiance ETFs, a relative newcomer to the ETF space that has already produced a $1B fund in FIVG. Founded in 2018 by a group of ETF professionals that came from more traditional issuers like Blackrock and Direxion, Defiance has focused exclusively on creating products that resonate with a younger, forward-looking generation of investors. Defiance's CIO Sylvia Jablonski joins Let's Talk ETFs to discuss where the firm sees itself among its more established ETF issuer peers - and how each of its five current funds can help investors capitalize on key trends taking place right now.
Show Notes

2:00 - Why start a new ETF issuer when there are so many out there already: Defiance's mission statement

7:00 - How does Defiance manage to stay ahead of the ETF thematic curve?

Drilling into Defiance's lineup:

12:30 - Defiance Next Gen Connectivity ETF (FIVG): How big of an opportunity is the move to 5G for investors? 

16:15 - What sectors are offering this exposure?

19:00 - Weighting holdings within FIVG

20:30 - Defiance Next Gen SPAC Derived ETF (SPAK): To what do you attribute the current popularity of SPACs?

23:45 - What parts of the SPAC process does SPAK focus on?

30:00 - Defiance Quantum ETF (QTUM): What is quantum computing and how does this ETF offer exposure to this theme?

33:45 - How do you address the lack of companies in the portfolio that represent "pure plays" in the quantum computing space?

38:00 - Defiance NASDAQ Junior Biotechnology ETF (IBBJ): What makes a company a junior biotech company?

40;00 - What's the basic underlying strategy of IBBJ?

43:00 - How do you deal with companies that become successful and are no longer "junior"?

44:00 - Defiance's newest ETF: The Defiance Next Gen H2 ETF (HDRO)


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"Runaway inflation or continued deflation?" "Rising rates or rates dropping below the zero bound?" These are just some of the questions investors are starting to ponder as the economy re-opens. The current interest rate environment is particularly complex because there are so many competing forces and known unknowns on the horizon. Quadratic Capital's Nancy Davis rejoins the podcast to talk investors through the current uncertainty and explain how her firm's increasingly popular Quadratic Interest Rate Volatility and Inflation Hedge ETF (IVOL) simultaneously protects against inflation and interest rate volatility.
Show Notes

4:45 - A quick two billion: Why has IVOL increasingly resonated so much with investors?

6:45 - How does IVOL offer higher distributions than funds like the Schwab U.S. TIPS ETF (SCHP) and iShares TIPS Bond ETF (TIP)?

10:30 - Who is holding IVOL: Break down of institutional vs. retail ownership

13:00 - How are investors using IVOL in their portfolios?

15:15 - Nancy's current outlook for U.S. interest rates?

19:00 - What would it take policy-wise for the yield curve to widen meaningfully?

26:45 - How concerned do investors need to be with inflation right now?

36:00 - Rates, credit spreads and understanding what you own: IVOL within a broader portfolio strategy


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In the decade-plus since the post-global financial crisis bull market rally began, the DJIA has been crushed by top U.S. index benchmark peers the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100. The fact the Dow is "price weighted" has meant high-flying growth stocks have been left out of the index relative to value-oriented names in underperforming sectors like healthcare and financials. In today's episode of Let's Talk ETFs, WingCapital Investments' Vincent Yip and Seeking Alpha's Jonathan Liss discuss recent Dow outperformance - and why DIA's "weaknesses" have been transformed into strengths as investors rotate away from tech and growth.
Show Notes

5:00 - Revisiting Vincent's Vietnam thesis (VNM) (IEMG)?

9:15 - The Dow Jones Industrial Index: One of the best known, oldest and strangest indexes for U.S. investors (DIA)

11:00 - Is the Dow still relevant for modern investors?

16:30 - How bad has the underperformance of the Dow been relative to the S&P 500 (SPY) and Nasdaq 100 (QQQ)?

20:00 - Why does the Dow Jones Transportation Index's (IYT) breakout bode well for DIA's performance?

23:30 - How does the sector composition of DIA set it up for success in this environment?

27:00 - What are other ways you recommend playing this trend? (RSP)


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Essentially unheard of a decade ago, investing strategies that screen holdings for compliance to Environmental, Social and Governance values have captured increasing investor interest. Tony Campos, Head of Sustainable Investment, Americas, FTSE Russell, joins the podcast to explain how the process of ESG screening works at FTSE Russell. Not wanting to leave things purely academic, we go under the hood of the two largest ETFs that track FTSE Russell Indexes, Vanguard's ESG U.S. (ESGV) and International (VSGX) ETFs.

2:30 - Meet Tony Campos, Head of Sustainable Investment, Americas, FTSE Russell.

4:00 - What are the origins of ESG investing?

6:45 - The "E" in ESG: What does FTSE Russell look for in companies that have positive environmental characteristics?

10:00 - Is it safe to say that energy companies will not end up in ESG portfolios?

14:30 - The "S" in ESG: What does FTSE Russell look for when building the social part of these indexes?

19:00 - How is it that a company like Facebook (FB) is a top 5 weighting in FTSE Russell Index trackers like the Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF (ESGV)?

24:00 - The "G" in ESG: What's the governance piece even doing here?

29:00 - Tax transparency and corporate tax shelters

32:30 - How do you ensure the accuracy of the ratings data?

36:45 - How do you select and weight index components?

42:30 - Does ESG investing mean exchanging values for performance?

44:30 - On ESG beyond equities: Fixed income and beyond

46:45 - The U.S. is catching up to rest of the world in its adoption of ESG


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Despite the S&P 500 being up an impressive 18% in 2020, the utilities sector did not take part in the rally finishing the year flat. Reaves' John Bartlett has spent nearly 30 years closely tracking Utilities names through every type of investing environment. Bartlett currently co-manages the firm's flagship Reaves Utility Income Fund (UTG), as closed-end fund with nearly $1.7B in AUM. He also co-manages Reaves' first exchange-traded fund, the Virtus Reaves Utilities ETF (UTES). With a blue wave sweeping the U.S., Bartlett believes utilities are well positioned to benefit from a likely rise in corporate tax rates and a broader societal move to clean energy.
Show Notes

2:00 - John's background: When did you become interested in utilities?

5:00 - An overview of the utilities sector: Gas, Electricity and Water

7:45 - UTG: A "wider" view of the utilities sector

10:00 - What's the outlook for utilities given the underperformance in 2020?

18:00 - Utilities for 2021 and beyond

23:00 - Utility stocks and energy prices

25:30 - Riding the Blue Wave: Expectations regarding the regulatory environment under Biden and a democratic controlled congress? What about at the state level?

29:00 - The history and future of clean energy adoption. What does it mean for utility companies?

37:15 - Is the growing embrace of ESG investing a headwind or a tailwind for the sector?

41:00 - On managing UTES: Why go with active management?

42:30 - Quantitative vs. qualitative analysis

45:45 - How much portfolio turnover is there?

46:30 - How does the fund look from a tax management standpoint?

48:00 - Differences between UTES and XLU (NEE) 

50:00 - Top pick for 2021: Atmos Energy Corp (ATO)


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When Fidelity rolled out its first semi-transparent active equity ETFs in June 2020, it was far from certain these new types of ETFs would resonate with investors. With $350M in assets between FBCV, FBCG and FMIL just seven months in, Fidelity's Greg Friedman has termed the initial interest in Fidelity's semi-transparent active equity ETFs "better than anticipated". Greg re-joins Let's Talk ETFs to discuss the famed asset manager's next steps in the semi-transparent active ETF space, including four ETFs going live this week.
Show Notes

3:00 - Half a year later: Checking in on Fidelity's first three semi-transparent active equity ETFs

4:45 - Who has invested in these funds so far?

6:45 - Has there been any cannibalization of Fidelity mutual funds by this new type of active equity ETF?

9:00 - Fund basics: Trading liquidity and spreads?

11:45 - Breaking down the performance so far

13:00 - How does the licensing relationship work with outside firms such as Invesco and Goldman Sachs?

16:45 - An overview of new semi-transparent active equity strategies Fidelity is bringing to market this week


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Investors searching for the ETF with the highest allocation to GME at the start of 2021 would have turned up the Cambria Shareholder Yield ETF (SYLD). A quant by nature, SYLD's portfolio manager Meb Faber accumulated his outsized position in GameStop (GME) patiently over nearly a decade, sticking to his guns as shares moved consistently lower (Meb is the co-founder, CEO and CIO of Cambria Investment Management). Rather than taking a victory lap, Meb views his experience with GME as an important teaching moment for investors. This may be the most important investing podcast you listen to this year.
Show Notes

2:15: How the Cambria Shareholder Yield ETF (SYLD) ended up being the ETF with the largest allocation to Gamestop (GME) at the start of 2021

8:30: 90% of investors don't have a plan - and that's a huge mistake

10:30: Market-cap weighting works - until it doesn't: A word on position sizing

13:30: Chasing multi-baggers is hazardous to most investors' health: Having a process and sticking to it

18:30: An asset allocation strategy built with low-cost funds is the right approach for the vast majority of investors


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After 15 years as an analyst at top financial institutions, Dan Victor stepped out on his own in 2018 as an independent investor and market strategist. The result is his increasingly popular Seeking Alpha handle, BOOX Research, where he combines a data-driven, fundamentals-first approach to offer nearly daily stock and ETF ideas, as well as his Seeking Alpha Marketplace service, Conviction Dossier. In today's podcast, we stress test three of his' top ETF picks for 2021: Emerging Markets (IEMG), shorting the long-end of the Treasury yield curve (TBF) and international dividend growth (VIGI).
Show Notes

2:30 - BOOX Research's back-story

3:30 - What does it take for an investor to be sufficiently diversified?

8:30 - Process for finding new investing ideas

10:00 - Top ETF picks for 2021: 1) iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG)

13:30 - After a decade of underperformance, what's the long case of emerging markets right now?

16:15 - Why IEMG over other comparable ETFs like (EEM), (VWO) and (SCHE)?

24:00 - Top ETF picks for 2021: 2) ProShares Short 20+ Year Treasury ETF (TBF)

34:30 - Top ETF picks for 2021: 3) Vanguard International Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIGI)

40:00 - Would you recommend the US-focused version of VIGI, (VIG)?


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The focus of a multitude of conspiracy theories across the nether regions of the internet, the returns provided by playing the move to 5G have been anything but fake. According to Esoterica Capital CEO Bruce Liu, the move to 5G is not so much an upgrade to an existing tech cycle as a re-envisioning of the entire tech stack. Investors should take note when Liu discusses anything 5G-related: his firm's flagship ETF, WUGI, has doubled up on peers FIVG and NXTG since launching in late March, returning nearly 100%.
Show Notes
Show Notes

4:00 - What exactly is 5G? Defining the parameters of the conversation

9:15 - The 5G investing universe: Which sectors stand to benefit the most?

13:15 - "A re-envisioning of the entire tech stack": 5G, the Internet of Things, and autonomous driving

16:15 - Liar, liar, cellphone tower on fire: Why is there so much conspiracy thinking around the move to 5G?

20:00 - WUGI vs. FIVG vs. NXTG: In a space this fluid, does active trump passive?

29:30 - The move to 4G vs. to 5G: All in on the chipmakers (AMD) (QCOM) (TSM) (NVDA); avoiding the handset manufacturers (AAPL) (SSNLF) and networking players (NOK) (ERIC) this time around

38:30 - What's WUGI's research and stock selection process?

43:00 - A word on position sizing

45:15 - How "active" is WUGI? Reviewing annual turnover

50:00 - What are large FAANG type stocks like Netflix (NFLX) and Facebook (FB) doing in the portfolio?

55:00 - A name in the portfolio that will drive performance in the coming year: Meituan (MPNGF)


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On this episode of Let's Talk ETFs, Seeking Alpha speaks with Matthew Tuttle, CEO & CIO of Tuttle Capital Management. Together we uncover information around the SPAC ETF market and how SPAC funds can be implemented into a traditional portfolio.

Tickers: (SPX), (SPCX), (DSPC), and (SOGU).

Show Notes: 
2:00 - Information and background about Tuttle Capital Management
4:45 - Overview of SPACs and the SPACs involved in the ETF market.
8:30 - What future trends and outlooks are foreseen in the SPAC market?
11:00 - What is the main objective behind SPCX? What separates it from the market?
15:15 - Differentiate the various SPAC ETFs... SPCX, DSPC and SOGU.
18:00 - Where do you see SPACS fitting into an investor's portfolio?
20:00 - How have SPAC ETFs been received, what is the investor communities reaction?
23:30 - Key takeaways about SPACS.
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After years as an index fund evangelist at top ETF firms like BlackRock and SSgA, Dodd Kittsley did a 180 of sorts, becoming Director of active manager Davis Advisors. Still opposed to the “closet indexing” that marks many active managers, Dodd was drawn to Davis’ unique approach to active management: High-conviction, low turnover, low cost, tax-efficient and fully transparent. He joins the first Let's Talk ETFs of 2021 to go under the hood of Davis’ four ETFs, which now have more than $1B in AUM between them: DWLD, DUSA, DINT and DFNL, and discuss why his firm is currently overweight the Financials sector.
Show Notes
·  3:00 - How did Dodd end up in the ETF space and why did he choose join a small firm after so many years at behemoths like BlackRock and State Street?
·  9:00 - What is Davis's approach and what makes it unique? What's the research process like?
·  14:15 – Other active managers cite things like front-running and protection of intellectual property as major concerns. Why is this not the case for Davis?
·  22:15 - Do you have plans to go the semi-transparent active management route in the future?
·  25:15 – Going under the hood of Davis’ four ETFs:

The $330M Davis Select Worldwide ETF (DWLD)

The $310M Davis Select U.S. Equity ETF (DUSA)

The $270M Davis Select International ETF (DINT)

The $150M Davis Select Financial ETF (DFNL)


· 28:00 - Is Davis’ approach entirely a “bottom up” one?
· 30:15 - How much turnover is there? How do the funds look from a tax perspective?
· 38:45 – DFNL and the case for Financials: Given the current historically low rate environment and flat yield curve, why is Davis currently overweight Financials?
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The Coronavirus economy has created a clear dividing line between winners and losers, resulting in wildly divergent market returns for different sectors in 2020. One of the pandemic's biggest winners has been the online sports betting and iGaming space, with people forced find ways of entertaining themselves from the safety of their own homes. One of 2020's hottest fund launches, the Roundhill Sports Betting & iGaming ETF (BETZ) has handsomely rewarded early investors, returning 66% in just over 6 months. With California and Texas starting to seriously consider legalizing sports betting, Roundhill Investments founder Will Hershey re-joins Let's Talk ETFs to explain why he thinks massive growth lies ahead.
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2020 has been a banner year for grain futures specialist Teucrium ETFs, with its assets under management more than tripling. Leading the charge since the COVID-19 late March lows have been the Vermont-based ETF issuer's SOYB and CORN funds - powered by record Chinese soybean and corn imports. Teucrium founder and CEO joins Let's Talk ETFs to explain why even with strong recent returns, this may be just the beginning of a prolonged leg up in grain prices.
Show Notes

3:45 - Why have grain funds resonated so much with investors this year?

5:30 - How has the pandemic affected the productions and consumption of grains?

7:30 - A look at the underlying fund structure and taxation

10:30 - Selecting the right futures contracts: It's all about contango and backwardation

22:30 - Will a weakening dollar continue to benefit grain prices?

25:45 - Under the hood of the Teucrium Corn Fund (CORN)

33:30 - The hand sanitizer boon has been good for corn prices

40:00 - The Teucrium Soybean (SOYB) and Wheat (WEAT) ETFs

43:00 - SOYB's banner year: It's all about China

47:00 - The global outlook for wheat

50:30 - The Teucrium Sugar ETF: Why has sugar cane lagged other grains?

51:30 - Four in one: The Teucrium Agricultural ETF (TAGS)

55:30 - How should investors think about the seemingly high expense ratios on Teucrium's ETFs?

58:15 - Climate change and the outlook for grain production and prices


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ALPS' Senior Investment Strategy Advisor Paul Baiocchi was early to the ETF party. Before joining ALPS, he was Vice President of ETF Business Development at Fidelity Institutional Asset Management where he helped build and grow the firm’s ETF lineup for six years. Prior to that, Paul worked at ETF.com, building an ETF analytics platform, writing about the ETF industry and moderating panels at Inside ETFs conferences. In the latest episode of Let's Talk ETFs, Paul reflects on the industry's evolution while pondering its current direction. And of course, he also takes a deep-dive into ALPS' current ETF lineup.
Show Notes

3:00 - What drew you to ETFs originally?

8:15 - Why is it that Mutual Fund assets still dwarf ETF assets?

17:30 - The next stage of ETF growth: Are semi-transparent actively managed ETFs actually good for investors?

25:00 - Has the ETF industry done enough to protect investors from exotic products?

30:00 - A top-down view of ALPS' ETF lineup?

34:30 - ALPS funds that are relevant to the current market environment (AMLP) (ACES) (SBIO)

43:30 - Searching for yield in the current environment (SDOG)


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XOUT Capital CEO David Barse spent nearly 25 years running active value shop Third Avenue Management before embracing a passive, rules-based indexing approach. His new firm, XOUT Capital, is the indexer behind the GraniteShares XOUT U.S. Large Cap ETF (XOUT). So when David speaks about active vs. passive management, ETF investors should take note, as he comes with a deep-seated knowledge from both sides of this issue.
Show Notes

4:00 - David's metamorphosis from active stock picker to passive indexer

7:00 - The XOUT methodology: Using a rules-based approach to determine which companies are likely to cause tech disruption

13:00 - Different kinds of passive investing: Rules-based vs. committee-selected indexes

19:00 - Re-opening the active vs. passive debate

29:00 - Should "seeking alpha" still be a goal for passive indexers?

33:30 - Passive as the new active: What about rules-based indexes with 2,000% annual turnover?

38:00 - Is there a risk that too much passive indexing can blunt the market's "price discovery" mechanism, leading to less efficient markets? 

50:30 - Where active has outperformed passive: Reviewing the recent SPIVA data on mid-cap growth, small-cap growth, real estate and investment-grade intermediate bonds


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On the latest episode of Let's Talk ETFs, long-time contributor to Seekingalpha.com, Chaim Siegel, aka Elazar Advisors, takes listeners through his unique bottom-up approach of stock picking in the tech space. Before setting out on his own and launching his Nail Tech Earnings investing service, Chaim spent years honing his craft, working directly with Steve Cohen as an analyst at SAC Capital as well as serving as a portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley and JLF Asset Management. His proprietary tech sector earnings estimates - available to subscribers of Nail Tech Earnings - are included in consensus Thomson Reuters and FactSet earnings estimates.
Chaim believes that based on his current growth projections for his favorite tech names, investors should continue overweighting the sector despite what appear to be frothy valuations on a historical basis.
Show notes:

4:30 - Chaim's unique investing backstory

10:45 - Chaim's proprietary earnings models: How does he arrive at his projections

16:30 - 2 top tech sector ETFs go head to head: The Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ) vs. The Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK)

22:30 - Hedging tech sector downside via ETFs: Shorting outright vs. inverse leveraged ETFs vs. ETF options

27:10 - Using momentum/trend following as a secondary decision-making factor

33:15 - Bottom-up analysis of top picks: Why Tesla (TSLA) and Zoom's (ZM) current valuations are besides the point

47:00 - Are we in a tech bubble? Why the current period is not a late 90's redux


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With the global robotics and automation space expected to quadruple in size over the next five years, it seems like an obvious theme for ETF investors to be over-allocated to. But with the proliferation of funds offering exposure - there are six funds with the word "Robotics" in their names - choosing the right one can be challenging. ROBO Global was first to market in this space, launching its flagship ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF (ROBO) all the way back in 2013. ROBO's Director of Research Jeremie Capron joins the podcast and offers an in-depth look at the Robotics space - and the painstaking research process he believes sets ROBO apart from its competitors.
Show Notes

3:00 - Defining the robotics and automation space: What makes it such a compelling investment opportunity?

7:00 - What's the current market size of this space? What are reasonable growth estimates?

9:15 - What still has to be overcome technically to achieve real growth in this space?

16:15 - Will the current pandemic supercharge robotics growth across a wider range of industries?

20:45 - Are there concerns about robotics, job loss and the human toll that is likely to take. Do these concerns enter into the company selection process?

25:45 - What is the selection process of the ROBO index?

28:45 - Passive indexing vs. active management: How much human bias is in the ROBO index selection process?

31:30 - Under the hood: Weighting methodology, sector breakdown, reconstitution frequency

36:00 - Why is the expense ratio a relatively high 95 basis points?

38:45 - Breaking down the key differences between ROBO and BOTZ

43:45 - Beyond ROBO: The ROBO Global Artificial Intelligence ETF (THNQ)

46:30 - The ROBO Global Healthcare Technology and Innovation ETF (HTEC) - Underlying methodology and how it differs from other Med-Tech ETFs?

49:30 - A couple of examples of stocks in this index: (TDOC), (PIAHY), (LVGO), (ILMN), (CRSP), (EDIT)


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It has not been a good decade for MLP investors. Even with double digit yields, total returns on the sector are at -4% annualized going back to 2010. Alerian’s Stacey Morris believes that’s all about to change as 2021 will see meaningful growth in MLP free-cash-flow and dividends for the first time in years. SS&C ALPS' Paul Baiocchi also joins the conversation and goes under the hood of his firm’s 2 Alerian MLP ETFs, AMLP and ENFR. On this episode of Let's Talk ETFs - the first to focus specifically on MLPs in an ETF wrapper - we cover everything from why companies would choose the master limited partnership structure, the unique and often confusing tax code around MLPs (and how ETFs like AMLP and ENFR manage to largely sidestep it), differences between American and Canadian Partnerships, and how various outcomes in the upcoming Presidential election are likely to affect the broader MLP sector. 
Show Notes

3:30 - How has the pandemic affected Stacey and Paul's work lives?

8:00 - What makes a company an MLP? What are the benefits of this structure?

10:30 - How are MLPs insulated from price movements in crude oil and natural gas?

14:15 - The outlook for MLPs in 2021 and beyond: Lowering CapEx, increasing FCF

22:00 - Dealing with the tax man: How do you get around issuing K-1s in AMLP?

26:00 - How are holdings selected and maintained for both ENFR and AMLP?

28:30 - Divergent performances: Why has ENFR outperformed AMLP?

34:45 - How much overlap is there between the holdings of these two funds?

37:00 - Biden vs. Trump: How will the outcome of the upcoming presidential election affect energy mid-stream players?


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J.D. Gardner started ETF firm Aptus to attack what he terms the "behavior gap" in investing, whereby investors routinely underperform their underlying investments by "performance chasing". Aptus' flagship fund, DRSK, attacks the behavior gap frontally by limiting drawdowns through the use of maturity date bond ETFs and broad index puts. Yet, DRSK has managed to handily beat the S&P 500 in 2020 by taking advantage of the "sporadic asymmetry" offered by buying a basket of stock calls. Gardner joins Let's Talk ETFs to explain the philosophy behind DRSK and why he believes Aptus has cracked the code to tamping down risk without giving up on strong returns.
Show Notes

2:00 - Describe the economic situation in Alabama as a result of the pandemic

3:30 - Work/life balance

5:00 - What made you decide to start your own ETF firm?

7:00 - The behavioral issues facing the majority of investors

11:00 - What is sporadic asymmetry? 

12:45 - How does DRSK merge theory with reality? 

15:00 - Why is the fund constructed mostly as a "bond ladder"?

19:00 - DRSK and duration risk

21:00 - DRSK and credit risk

27:00 - What percent of the overall return of the fund does the 6% in options represent?

30:00 - Is the call buying strategy designed to replicate the broad market in terms of sector allocations?

32:00 - How did you decide on Southwest (LUV) vs. other airlines?

36:30 - Broad index puts for hedging

39:00 - How did this hedge cushion the blow in the first quarter of 2020?

42:30 - How is the fund treated for tax purposes?

45:00 - Is this ETF meant to be a core holding?


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Over the last 40 years, U.S. equities have had roughly the same P/E ratio as the rest of the world. Over the last 10, the U.S. has produced massive outperformance relative to its global peers, with valuations becoming increasingly stretched. You actually have to go back to the 1920s to find a period where U.S. stock valuations were this stretched relative to their global peers. Cambria Founder and CEO Meb Faber joins Let's Talk ETFs to explain why his firm's ETF line-up is particularly well suited to play the rotation to value and global equities that he believes is certainly coming.
Show Notes

2:30 - Work-life balance during a global pandemic

6:30 - How did Meb decide to start Cambria?

12:00 - Preview of ETFs in Cambria's pipeline.

15:00 - Playing defense, playing offense with Cambria ETFs:

16:00 - The Cambria Tail Risk ETF (TAIL) - Low-cost protection in down markets

24:45 - The U.S.-focused Cambria Shareholder Yield ETF (SYLD), The developed markets-focused Cambria Foreign Shareholder Yield ETF (FYLD), and the Emerging Markets-focused Cambria Emerging Shareholder Yield ETF (EYLD) - Yield vs. total returns

32:00 - The Cambria Global Value ETF (GVAL) - Anticipating the rotation into value

39:00 - The Cambria Global Momentum ETF (GMOM) - Using momentum to underpin a global asset allocation strategy

45:00 - The Cambria Cannabis ETF (TOKE) - Why launch a thematic fund? Why Cannabis specifically?

52:00 - Assessment of valuations of cannabis companies

57:30 - How important is federal legalization for the case for investing in publicly-traded cannabis?


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In this Let's Talk ETFs podcast, Seeking Alpha speaks with Darren Schuringa, CEO ASYMmetric ETFs. Together we have a discussion on how risk can be monitored in an investment portfolio through the use of exchange traded funds.
Tickers: (ASPY), (SPY)
Show Notes:
3:00 - Background on Asymmetric ETFs.
4:30 - How are investors monitoring risk a this moment and how are you looking at risk right now?
9:00 - What are the building blocks of the asymmetric ETF (ASPY)?
13:30 - What is the breakdown difference between ASPY and SPY?
19:00 - Where do you see ASPY fitting into a traditional portfolio?
21:00 - How's the reception been for ASPY? Are you seeing any challenges at the moment?
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Rushed to market just 6 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pacer BioThreat Strategy ETF (VIRS) takes a unique approach to picking potential pandemic winners. The LifeSci BioThreat Strategy Index underlying VIRS selects holdings based on seven different criteria - everything from potential vaccine makers to companies powering the transition to a work-from-home economy. Pacer ETFs President Sean O’Hara joins Let's Talk ETFs to explain why his firm's new ETF is designed to protect investor portfolios from both the current - and future - pandemics.
Show Notes

3:00 - Was VIRS planned in advance, or rushed to market in response to COVID-19?

4:30 - Have you had to make adjustments to the fund's composition in response to ongoing developments?

7:00 - What are other elements of the index aside from the medical side of the pandemic (i.e. vaccines and treatment)?

13:15 - How "pure play" does a company have to be to be included in the index?

17:30 - How does VIRS' weighting methodology work?

24:30 - How can you be certain that the index will be able to profit from vaccines given the large number of companies developing them and the relatively small number of companies in the index?

Composition of VIRS by sectors and themes:

28:00 - Therapeutic drug companies

29:00 - Biological warfare plays

33:00 - What's the underlying strategy of Pacer's Alternator ETF series? (ALTL) (PALC) (PAMC)

42:30 - Potential tax implications of the Alternator funds


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2020 has already seen the quickest bear market sell-off and counter-rally in history. With one of the most consequential elections in U.S. history just six weeks away and another virus wave likely this fall, volatility will remain the key investing story in 2020. So much fear and greed can make even the most seasoned investor abandon well thought out plans, leading to potentially catastrophic results to their portfolio's bottom line. EPB Macro Research's Eric Basmajian rejoins the podcast to walk listeners through his unique approach to portfolio construction, which blends mean-variance analysis and his own financial forecasting models to produce risk-adjusted outperformance.
Show Notes

4:00 - 2020 has been a crazy year for markets - and it's not even over

7:30 - What is Modern Portfolio Theory - and why does it work?

12:30 - Balancing risk through mean variance analysis

17:30 - Eric's approach to portfolio construction within EPB Macro Research

23:00 - Frequency of portfolio rebalancing

29:45 - Current valuations and future expected returns in asset class allocations and position sizing 

33:30 - How overvalued are equities right now?

37:30 - Valuations continued: U.S. vs. Foreign equities

42:30 - Expected bond returns in a flat yield curve environment

56:00 - Disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street: How efficient are markets?

62:00 - Too much debt is bad for future growth

72:00 - Labor force vs. productivity growth

76:00 - Given the current interest rate environment, how does one get a real rate of return in bonds?


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With his ATAC Rotation Fund (ATACX) up 58% YTD, Michael Gayed explains how he uses historically proven leading indicators of volatility to generate outsized returns. ATAC Rotation employs a tactical risk-on, risk-off strategy that alternates weekly between a mix of stock and bond ETFs based on projections of short-term volatility. With the VIX jumping from 22 to 32 in a little over a week and markets flailing, investors would do well to heed Gayed's central message: Ignore gathering storm clouds at your own peril.
Show Notes

3:30 - How does the strategy underlying the ATAC Rotation Fund work and how did Michael come up with it?

10:45 - What has driven the impressive returns so far in 2020?

20:00 - Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on investor sentiment

23:00 - The 2020 effect: Making sense of one of the craziest years for investors in recent memory

29:00 - Diagnosing the problem: The disease plaguing American capitalism?

41:00 - Fund basics: Why hold 4 different small-cap ETFs? What does the ETF selection process look like?

48:30 - 2,000% turnover: How do you tax manage a fund like this?

53:00 - The Lead-Lag Report: Michael's outlook for equities?

55:00 - Dos and Don'ts of the ETF screening process


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Larry Swedroe has established himself as a voice of financial reason and one of the world's foremost proponents of evidence-based investing over nearly five decades managing money. His recently updated and expanded best-seller, The Incredible Shrinking Alpha: How to be a successful investor without picking winners, is a well-timed continuation of the argument he's been making for decades: Investors need not do anything spectacular to succeed. Rather than search for alpha, that ever-elusive holy grail of investing, investors are better off seeking beta, creating risk-adjusted return streams that offer the best chance at reaching their goals.
Show Notes

3:30 - What would you say to investors who think the high volatility of February and March is behind us?

7:45 - Where has all the alpha gone?

11:00 - Other reasons alpha is harder and harder to find

14:30 - An increasingly tough competitive environment

21:30 - What about Warren Buffett? Confusing beta for alpha

31:30 - Alpha vs. beta: More than semantics?

34:30 - What do Larry mean by "passive management"?

42:00 - Price discovery impeded: Is there such a thing as too much index investing?

55:00 - Why do so many investors continue to put their money into more expensive actively-managed strategies, despite the lack of evidence of persistent outperformance?

61:00 - Practical portfolio construction: How do you narrow down the vast universe of available passively managed funds?

78:30 - How important is it to stick with a single fund family across an entire portfolio?

83:30 - Recommendations regarding rebalancing and taxes?


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Among the search for non-correlated strategies in the current risk-laden environment, The Quadratic Interest Rate Volatility and Inflation Hedge ETF (IVOL) has stood out from its fixed income ETF peers, gathering nearly half a billion dollars in assets under management and winning the 2019 ETF.com award for Best New U.S. Fixed Income ETF. As the first fund to place a bond convexity strategy within an ETF wrapper, IVOL seeks to hedge relative interest rate movements while providing the potential for enhanced, inflation-protected income. Quadratic Capital founder and Managing Partner Nancy Davis joins Let's Talk ETFs to make sense of the current interest rate environment and explain why her firm's flagship fund belongs in intelligently constructed portfolios.
Show notes

4:30 - Why leave the comfort of the "big Wall Street firms" to launch your own firm and ETF?

6:45 - Is the strategy underlying IVOL similar to what you are doing for private clients at Quadratic?

8:30 - Nancy's broad outlook for fixed income in the present environment

12:00 - When does the risk of inflation become real and how long will it take to get there?

14:00 - A way to play a widening yield curve?

17:15 - Breaking down IVOL's risk profile

21:30 - Understanding IVOL's component parts: Long options tied to the shape of the U.S. interest rate swap curve

24:00 - Is there a benchmark with which to measure the fund's performance?

25:30 - IVOL: As non-correlated to common asset classes as an ETF strategy gets 

32:30 - Understanding IVOL's component parts: Why go with The Schwab U.S. TIPS ETF (SCHP) for the TIPS component?

34:45 - The current outlook: Between the pandemic and the U.S. election, how much rate volatility should investors be pricing in for the rest of the year?

40:00 - Next steps: Nancy's future plans in the ETF space


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The economic carnage wrought by COVID-19 has forced many long-time dividend paying stocks to slash their yields, with many more favored dividend paying names at risk of having to follow suit. Reality Shares Co-Founder and CEO Eric Ervin rejoins Let's Talk ETFs and walks listeners through the proprietary DIVCON "dividend safety" rating system that powers his firm's DIVCON Leaders Dividend ETF (LEAD) and DIVCON Dividend Defender ETF (DFND). The objective is simple: Help yield-focused investors stay one step ahead of the dividend curve by either completely avoiding those dividend payers that are most likely to cut their dividends, as in the case of LEAD - or by outright shorting those companies, as is the case with 25% of DFND's portfolio (the fund goes long the dividend paying stocks least likely to cut their dividends with the remaining 75% of its holdings).

How's the strategy playing out for investors? So far in 2020, these ETFs' performance speaks for itself, with outperformance of between 8% (LEAD) and 11% (DFND) versus the S&P 500.
Show Notes

4:00 - How has Eric's work life changed as a result of COVID-19? What's the situation in San Diego?

7:30 - How does the DIVCON methodology work?

11:30 - Choosing companies likely to grow their dividends

18:00 - Uncovering the "riskiest" dividend stocks: "DIVCON 1"

20:00 - How do the current DIVCON rankings break down in terms of sector and market cap?

24:00 - How often does DIVCON re-rank the universe of dividend paying stocks? How often are these funds' underlying components changed?

29:30 - Fund holdings: "DIVCON 5" standouts

37:00 - DFND: Is there less risk by being long and short at the same time?

42:30 - Why are DFND's expenses so high?

46:45 - What can investors expect from dividend stocks - and interest rates in general - in the current environment?


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The COVID-19 pandemic has created a massive divergence in performance among thematic ETFs. Among the most pioneering of the thematic ETF issuers, Global X's CEO Luis Berruga joins Let's Talk ETFs to discuss where he sees the greatest opportunities in the current landscape. Some of the themes we discuss - e-commerce (EBIZ), video games (HERO) - will come as no surprise to listeners. Others will. There's an idea here for nearly every type of ETF investor.
Show Notes

2:45 - A most elegant piece of financial engineering: Luis' move from investment banking to Global X ETFs

7:00 - A global footprint: Mirae Asset enters the picture

12:30 - How many exchanges are Global X ETFs currently listed on?

17:15 - Masters at work: Global X's approach to thematic investing

24:00 - The birthing process: How Global X brings thematic products to market

28:00 - Matchmaker, Matchmaker: Carefully choosing the perfect indexer for each ETF

30:00 - Are institutional investors using thematic ETFs differently than individuals?

34:30 - How has COVID-19 affected trends in the thematic space?

38:30 - COVID-19 thematic ETF lightning round


39:00 - The race for the cure: The Global X Genomics & Biotechnology ETF (GNOM)

43:00 - The evolving business of aging: The Global X Longevity Thematic ETF (LNGR)

46:00 - Body-mind connection 2.0: The Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ) 

50:00 - The new shop-from-home economy: The Global X E-commerce ETF (EBIZ) (AMZN)

55:45 - The new socially distant entertainment ecosystem: The Global X Video Games & Esports ETF (HERO)

62:00 - Looking for yield in a yield-less world: Global X SuperDividend ETFs (SDIV) (DIV)

71:45 - What are Luis' favorite sectors right now?


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With 97% of U.S. ETF assets in funds that track an index, and overall assets continuing to grow rapidly, indexing has never been more central to the overall investing landscape. Perhaps nowhere is this more apparent than in the months immediately leading up to and following the annual "Russell Recon" - where companies are added and removed from key benchmarks. Catherine Yoshimoto, Director of Product Management at FTSE Russell, joins Let's Talk ETFs to discuss 2020's top trends - and what they mean for investors' ETF portfolios.
Show notes

3:00 - How has the pandemic affected Catherine's day to day work flow?

6:00 - Why indexing?

7:30 - What does being director of product management at a major indexer entail?

9:00 - On the centrality of indexes to the ETF investing ecosystem

10:30 - What's the process of creating a new index look like?

15:00 - A bird's eye view of the FTSE Russell indexing universe

16:30 - A walk through Russell's annual recon

20:30 - 2020 Recon lessons: Divergence between large and small cap US stocks

23:45 - What changes were most notable in terms of sector compositions?

26:15 - Has the "flight to quality" Catherine first noted back in April continued, or have other factors taken the lead in recent months?

32:00 - ESG investing: Why the focus on sustainable investing specifically?


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Many investors are surprised to learn that a typical 60/40 stock-bond mix has 85% of its underlying risk concentrated in the 60% of the portfolio allocated to equities. Taking inspiration from the All Weather Portfolio popularized by Bridegwater Capital's Ray Dalio, the RPAR Risk Parity ETF (RPAR) spreads risk evenly across a portfolio comprised of four different asset classes. The objective is simple: deliver risk-adjusted outperformance across an entire market cycle and through all market environments. So far, RPAR has gathered assets at an impressive clip - no doubt a result of its impressive performance throughout the current market turmoil. The managers behind one of the most successful ETF launches of the past year (RPAR) join Let's Talk ETFs to explain exactly what makes their fund tick.
Show notes

5:00 - RPAR Risk Parity ETF (RPAR): A bird's eye view of the strategy underlying the fund

6:30 - What is the history of this type of strategy's performance?

8:00 - How is your fund different from the All Weather Portfolio popularized by Bridgewater Capital's Ray Dalio?

10:00 - RPAR: A "True" risk parity strategy

15:00 - Why is this not exactly an index fund?

20:45 - On duration risk: Why the strategy always invests in longer duration treasuries?

25:00 - Dealing with a rising rate environment

26:15 - Relative to a 60/40 mix what would the standard deviation of RPAR be?

27:00 - What's the maximum drawdown an investor in the fund could expect?

31:30 - Specific holdings: (BAR) versus (GLD) for physical gold exposure

35:00 - Why individual companies versus an ETF for commodity producers exposure? 

40:00 - What are the top equity positions?

42:00 - Is the fund meant to be a core or a satellite portfolio holding?

45:30 - Who is buying RPAR? Retail versus institutional investors

50:00 - The current macro outlook - and why risk parity makes sense no matter your point of view


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The ETF space tends to innovate in waves. First came plain vanilla cap-weighted index funds. Next came factor investing, utilizing academic research to create indexes with much more pinpointed exposures. After nearly three decades, the revolution in actively-managed equity ETFs is finally here. From its Magellan Fund of Peter Lynch fame in the 1980s to the Will Danoff-run Contrafund today, Fidelity has been a pioneer of active fund management on a grand scale. Among the first to roll out alpha-seeking active equity ETFs, Fidelity head of ETF Strategy Greg Friedman joins Let's Talk ETFs and gives investors a crash course in exactly what to expect from these new, yet familiar, products.

2:45: Fidelity’s new active, semi-transparent ETFs: The next chapter in the natural evolution of ETF development

6:30: Fidelity’s unique research process

8:30: Fidelity’s success as a brokerage platform

11:00: Why isn’t front-running a concern in the active fixed income space?

13:30: What does factor investing look like in the fixed income space to Fidelity?

17:45: How does Fidelity think about factor investing when it comes to equity investing?

20:30: Active, semi-transparent ETFs: The “Fidelity model” explained

29:00: Relative to mutual funds, can investors expect lower expenses on Fidelity's new active, semi-transparent equity ETFs?

31:00: Can investors expect these products to be more tax efficient than traditional mutual funds?

33:15: Fidelity Blue Chip Value ETF (FBCV) and Fidelity Blue Chip Growth ETF (FBCG)

35:30: Fidelity New Millennium ETF (FMIL)

36:30: What's Fidelity’s larger strategy in the active, semi-transparent equity ETF space?




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In the latest Let's Talk ETFs podcast, Seeking Alpha sits down with Paul Kim, CEO of Simplify ETFs. to discuss how options-based ETFs can be a useful tool inside an investment portfolio.
Tickers: (SPYC), (QQC), and (VFIN)
Show Notes:
2:45 - Tell us about yourself and Simplify ETFs
7:45 - Elaborate on the reasoning and process of including options in ETFs.
11:45 - How options ETFs can protect against volatility 
16:14 - Are there any areas of the ETF market where options are underutilized?
19:30 - Who are the right investors for this type of strategy?
24:00 - How has the market reception been and what are the long term trends?
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"Short-term reversals" are the market phenomenon that stocks with particularly bad one-week or month returns are likely to generate outsized returns in the following week or month. But while this stock market anomaly has been known for decades, the high-frequency trading and tax consequences of executing this strategy have made it difficult for investors to profit from. Housing a short-term reversal strategy in an the ETF wrapper has finally made the short-term reversal strategy efficient from both a tax and trading standpoint for regular investors. Vesper Capital Management's John Thompson joins Let's Talk ETFs and walks listeners through how the strategy underlying his firm's UTRN ETF has led to massive outperformance since the March 23 lows.
Show Notes

3:30 - What is the market anomaly known as the "short-term reversal"?

6:00 - Understanding investor behavior: People overreact more to the downside than the upside

12:00 - Introducing the Chow Ratio

15:00 - Even within an ETF wrapper, how tax efficient is this strategy?

18:00 - Is it a characteristic of the fund to underperform during bull markets?

23:45 - How does the Chow Ratio signal which stocks to buy and which ones to avoid?

30:00 - What names have been driving the performance over the last 3 months?

34:15 - Do you see UTRN as a core portfolio holding?

36:15 - Does combining this strategy with a momentum strategy lead to even better risk adjusted returns?

41:00 - Any plans to roll out similar strategies for different asset classes?

43:30 - What's your outlook for a V-shaped recovery? Will the market be higher or lower at year end?


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China is increasingly under the magnifying glass for its role in spreading misinformation about COVID-19 - or at the very least failing to properly warn the global community in advance. With COVID-19 continuing to wreak havoc on the global economy, an increasing number of voices in the investment community are questioning their allocations to Chinese equities. Perhaps chief among them is Life + Liberty Indexes founder and 2019 ETF.com award winner for Best New International/Global Equity ETF (FRDM), Perth Tolle. Perth rejoins Let's Talk ETFs to make the case for why countries that lack a commitment to basic human rights and civil liberties don't belong in ethically constructed portfolios.
Show Notes:

4:00 - The growing bi-partisan consensus on China

5:00 - Issues with Zoom (ZM) blocking Chinese dissidents: Ideas for a future index?

7:30 - Methodology of indexing freedom: Who is in, who is out

10:45 - FRDM's top holdings, method of selection, approach to weightings

13:15 - How many actually died from COVID-19 in Wuhan?

20:00 - Was China hiding information about the early stages of the outbreak?

26:00 - How much misinformation is being put out by the Chinese government and how much do the Chinese people believe it?

35:00 - The case of Luckin Coffee (LK): How much of a concern is corporate fraud with Chinese companies?

47:30 - The best of the Freedom 100: Polish gaming company (OTGLF)


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With QQQ recently passing the $100B in AUM mark, the world's second most traded ETF is showing no signs of letting up. The past decade has been especially good to the Nasdaq 100 index and the only U.S.-listed ETF that tracks it, outperforming the S&P 500 (and SPY) by an incredible 225%. Market history suggests we're due for some serious mean reversion sooner rather than later, right?
Ryan McCormack, QQQ Equity Product Strategist at Invesco, joins Let's Talk ETFs to make the case for why the next decade can be just as profitable for QQQ bulls as the last one.
Show Notes

2:30 - When did Ryan's love affair with ETFs begin?

5:30 - A strange index: How is the Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ) and the NASDAQ 100 index underlying it constructed and maintained?

10:00 - What do you attribute the QQQ's unbelievable outperformance over the last decade vs. funds like (SPY) and (DIA) to?

16:00 - Further dominance of big tech: Effects of COVID-19 on early stage start-ups

18:15 - How can QQQ be considered a "growth index" with so many dividend growth companies in its top holdings, including Apple (AAPL) Microsoft (MSFT) and Intel (INTC)?

24:00 - Getting ahead of itself? What is current fair value for QQQ?

27:30 - More than 50% tech: Is QQQ diversified enough to be a core portfolio holding for investors?

32:15 - Holdings powering the index that might surprise people (SBUX), (TSLA) and more

36:00 - Outlook for US/Global economy: Can markets continue their march higher?

40:00 - Are continued low rates central to the bullish case for equities?

42:00 - Why is QQQ poised to continue outperforming the broader market in the coming decade?

43:45 - What are major risks to QQQ's continued outperformance?


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After 20 years working exclusively with institutional clients and trading virtually every asset class imaginable, James Kostohryz is determined to share his recipe for success with retail investors. Combining fundamental and technical analysis in surprising ways, James remains bearish on the outlook for stocks - while acknowledging that current momentum dictates a more balanced approach in the shorter-term. He joins Let's Talk ETFs to explain the fundamental, technical and behavioral edge he attempts to give members of his investing service, Successful Portfolio Strategy.
Show Notes
3:00 - After two decades working exclusively with institutions, why did James decide to create an investing service for retail investors?
7:30 - Is there a difference in temperament with institutional vs retail investors? 
10:45 - Given the severity of the global economic contraction resulting from COVID-19, how do you make sense of recent extremely bullish market activity?
22:00 - What are investors getting wrong when they say this is a "don't fight the Fed" situation?
42:00 - How do you use the interplay between fundamental and technical analysis to make better investing decisions?
49:30 - How do you determine positions in your portfolios?
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