Trillions

Thirty years ago today, the very first exchange-traded fund started trading on the American Stock Exchange. At the time, Bill Clinton had just moved into the White House and America was trying on a new role as the world's lone superpower. On Wall Street, an entire industry soon realized that the ETF was a revolution all its own. Today, there are more than 3,000 ETFs listed in the US,  plus another 6,000 international ones, and together they hold $6.8 trillion in assets.

In “The ETF Story,” a special six-episode series originally published five years ago, Eric and Joel explore the origins of the first ETF and how it’s come to dominate investing. Among those interviewed are Jack Bogle, Kathleen Moriarty, Bob Toll, Howard Kramer, Rob Arnott, Dave Ritter, Reggie Browne, Dave Nadig, John O’Brien, Bruce Bond and more. 

Here's episode 1. On Monday Oct. 19, 1987, the stock market fell 23 percent, the worst day ever for stocks two times over. It was in the aftermath of that crash that the idea for exchange-traded funds was born. And it came from a very unlikely place: the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 

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This month marks the 30th birthday of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), the granddaddy ETF that started it all and is still the largest and most-traded ETF in the world. But getting this ETF launched was no small task; neither was getting assets into it. Though once people saw its value-add, the financial world changed forever.

This week, we speak with Jay Baker, who — as vice president of options marketing at the American Stock Exchange — worked with Nate Most and Steve Bloom to drum up interest for SPY in the early ‘90s. We discuss where the idea for SPY came from, who the early investors were and what caused the tipping point, as well as the unique dynamic between Most and Bloom. We also look at whether SPY can hold onto its biggest-in-world status for much longer. 

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From inflation and the Federal Reserve, China and Russia, fundamentals and Bitcoin, there’s no shortage of themes for investors to think about in 2023. And while we can’t give you investing advice, we can give you a few tickers to watch.

On this episode, Eric and Joel take a tour of Bloomberg Intelligence’s listicle of ETFs for the year ahead. They’re joined by James Seyffart and Athanasios Psarofagis of Bloomberg Intelligence as well as Scarlet Fu of Bloomberg News. Among the ETFs discussed are $UTEN, $COWZ, $AVUV, $DHUP, $RSX, $KCE, $VXU,S $TSLQ, $VTV, $GBTC, $MCH, $TGN, $XCCC, $STRV, $UDVD, $INFL, $RMAU and $JREU

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Hosted by Bloomberg Opinion senior executive editor Tim O'Brien, Crash Course will bring listeners directly into the arenas where epic business and social upheavals occur. Every week, Crash Course will explore the lessons to be learned when creativity and ambition collide with competition and power -- on Wall Street and Main Street, and in Hollywood and Washington.

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Got an idea for an exchange-traded fund but don’t want to deal with the logistics? A group of “white label” ETF issuers are in the business of helping people launch their own fund—and business is booming. These issuers have minted more than 100 ETFs this way—for both big asset managers and entrepreneurial individuals simply passionate about an idea. 

On this week’s episode of Trillions, we speak to the “big three” of ETF white labels: Garrett Stevens, chief executive of Exchange Traded Concepts, Mike Venuto, chief information officer and co-founder of Tidal, and Wes Gray, president of Alpha Architect. Topics include how they got started, how they vet new ideas, the launch of which they’re most proud and what next year holds. The last includes Goldman Sachs Group’s entry into the business and a potential wave of mutual fund to ETF conversions.

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  The future is very bright for ETFs, which in 2022 saw record volume and the second most flows and new launches—all astounding numbers considering the stock and bond markets were in the gutter return-wise. So what can we expect next year? What areas should people be watching? 

On this episode of Trillions, Bloomberg Intelligence’s exchange-traded fund team go over their just-published 2023 Outlook which covers topics such as active, alternatives, crypto, China and thematic investing—and just how big ETFs could get. Our analysts include Athanasios Psarofagis, Rebecca Sin, Henry Jim and James Seyffart. 

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The crypto market may not be dead, but it’s arguably in a temporary coma thanks to the spectacular implosion of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX. The bankrupt crypto exchange, with billions of dollars of customer funds allegedly missing, has spooked all but the hardcore believers and potentially set the digital asset class back by years. 

On this episode of Trillions, we sit down with James Seyffart of Bloomberg Intelligence and reporter Katie Greifeld to discuss what this means for exchange-traded fund investors and the likelihood a spot Bitcoin ETF will get approved. We also take a look at what’s going on with Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.

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It took 15 years for an ideal environment to arrive for alternative exchange-traded funds—which employ or mimic hedge fund strategies—but their moment has finally come. They’ve grown assets by 25% this year as investors look for something to help offset the decline of 60/40 portfolios.

To truly understand how they work and what they track, however, requires a lot of due diligence.

On this episode of Trillions, we speak with senior reporter Katherine Burton, Andrew Beer, managing partner and portfolio manager at Dynamic Beta, and Bob Elliott, co-founder and chief executive of Unlimited. We discuss why hedge fund ETFs could be the next big thing, how they work and how to use them in a portfolio. 

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Every year there's far more ETF launches than closures. But market headwinds are starting to accelerate the number of liquidations. So far this year the Grim Reaper has already come for about 100 ETFs. 

On this episode of Trillions—just in time for Halloween—Eric and Joel take a tour of this year's ETF graveyard with Katie Greifeld of Bloomberg News, Athanasios Psarofagis of Bloomberg Intelligence and Todd Rosenbluth of VettaFi.  Each guest shares a few noteworthy headstones, $NIFE, $CTRU, $TRYP, $DDG, $DIVA, $BUDX, $SUNY and more.

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South Korea is having a moment. Between the stellar rise of K-pop and worldwide film hits such as Parasite and Squid Game, the country has established itself as a power to be reckoned with when it comes to global entertainment. This level of success is exactly why a young man by the name of Jangwon Lee decided to launch—you guessed it—The KPOP and Korean Entertainment exchange-traded fund. 

We speak with Lee, chief executive of CT Investments and Content Technologies, and reporter Isabelle Lee about the size and scope of K-pop’s reach and the broader Korean entertainment market, how the ETF works and the challenges with launching a theme ETF in today’s especially rough-and-tumble market. 

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