ETF Prime Podcast

Listen to The ETF Store Show every Tuesday at 9am on ESPN 1510 as we cover everything you need to know about Exchange Traded Funds and the world of investing.

On our most recent radio broadcast, we discussed a critical aspect of successful investing – asset allocation.  A landmark study concluded that over 90% of the variability of long-term returns can be attributed to asset allocation.  In other words, the study concluded that the performance of your portfolio over the long-run isn’t determined by picking individual stocks or bonds or trying to time the market but instead, is based on asset allocation.  The words “asset allocation” may sound complex, but quite simply, they refer to investing in different types of investments that perform differently in different market and economic conditions.  The key here is different.

On our show, we explained how ETFs have completely changed the game for investors by allowing them to invest in a wide range of asset classes that previously were unavailable or difficult to access – investments like gold, commodities, real estate, and emerging market stocks and bonds.  ETFs allow investors to access just about any asset class around the globe and build a portfolio of investments that perform differently in different market conditions.  Unfortunately, a number of investment advisors simply put their clients in a cookie-cutter portfolio of stocks and bonds.  As we described on the show, if your investment advisor is only using mutual funds in your portfolio, there’s a pretty good chance that you don’t have exposure to some of the asset classes mentioned above.  At The ETF Store, we focus on asset allocation and use Exchange Traded Funds, or ETFs, to ensure our portfolios are anything but cookie-cutter.  Listen to the full show here to learn more about asset allocation and ETFs.  Plus, catch our weekly market update and ETF Spotlight (ticker IAU).

Listen to The ETF Store Show every Tuesday at 9am on ESPN 1510 as we cover everything you need to know about Exchange Traded Funds and the world of investing.

On our most recent radio broadcast, we discussed an area of investing that some people may find intimidating or try to avoid altogether – investing in bonds (or fixed income).  We explained why fixed income is an important component of a well-diversified portfolio, but also examined how the current interest rate environment is making this endeavor more challenging than ever.  Savers using fixed income products are being penalized by the low rates and those individuals who rely on fixed income to cover day-to-day expenses are being forced to lower their standard of living.  To that end, given the historically low interest rates, we debated whether we’re currently in a bond bubble and if so, what that means for the fixed income portion of your portfolio.  We also discussed the inherent challenges investors face when trying to select individual bonds or invest in actively managed fixed income mutual funds.

More importantly, we explained why we believe ETFs are the best way for investors to access the fixed income markets.  Bond ETFs can provide broad exposure to a wide range of fixed income markets around the globe and do so extremely efficiently and cost effectively.  We discussed some specific bond ETFs that you might consider as part of the foundation for the fixed income portion of your portfolio including tickers BND, TIP, and MUB.  And, as always, we delivered our weekly market update and ETF Spotlight (ticker PCY).  Listen to the full show here to learn more about investing in bond ETFs.

Listen to The ETF Store Show every Saturday at 4pm on KCMO Talk Radio 710AM as we cover everything you need to know about Exchange Traded Funds and the world of investing.

On our most recent radio broadcast, we discussed a number of key headline events currently permeating the financial markets, including the much anticipated Facebook IPO and JP Morgan’s massive trading error.  Investors in both of these companies have rudely found out, if they weren’t already aware, that investing in individual stocks (and especially IPOs) can pose significant challenges.   As regular listeners of our radio program know, we talk all the time about the inherent riskiness involved in trying to select individual stocks.  There are just too many factors, many of which may be unknown to investors (see Morgan Stanley’s lack of disclosure regarding Facebook’s revenue estimates), which can derail what seem to be good stock picks.  That’s not to mention that individual investors are trying to compete against Harvard MBAs working 80 hours a week on Wall Street with direct access to the CEOs and CFOs of the companies they’re trying to invest in.  Add in the fact that from 1989 – 2008, 21% of all stocks listed in US markets became bankrupt and you’re looking at a recipe for underperformance.  Simply put, statistically, you’re much better off investing in low cost, passively managed investments such as equity ETFs than trying to select individual stocks.

All that being said, we realize that there are some investors who are determined to bet on companies like Facebook and JP Morgan.  So we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that there are ETFs that will allow investors to gain exposure to both of these companies without putting all of their eggs in one basket.  If you must invest in Facebook or JP Morgan, listen to our full show here to learn more about which ETFs you can look at to gain exposure.  You can also listen to our most recent weekly market update.

Listen to The ETF Store Show every Saturday at 4pm on KCMO Talk Radio 710AM as we cover everything you need to know about Exchange Traded Funds and the world of investing.

On our most recent radio show, we discussed an area of investing that, unfortunately, seems to be a relative unknown to many investors and even professional investment advisors – alternative assets.  By alternative assets, we’re referring to investments like gold, commodities, and real estate.  Far too many investors are missing these critical components in their portfolios – components which can offer diversification benefits and serve as inflation hedges.  Part of the problem is that, up until a few years ago, many of these asset classes were unavailable to everyday investors or simply too difficult to invest in.  If you wanted to invest in oil, for example, you had to be prepared to play the futures markets or store barrels of oil in your backyard.  With the proliferation of ETFs and other similar exchange traded products, investors can now easily and cost effectively access alternative assets such as oil and build a truly diversified portfolio.

We also discussed some of the specific alternative asset exchange traded products to consider for your portfolio including DJP, IAU, and VNQ.  If your advisor has you in a cookie-cutter portfolio of only stocks and bonds, listen to our full show here to learn more about how ETFs and The ETF Store can help you open up an entire new world of investing.