Trillions

Let's be honest, Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) ETFs probably aren't going to make you blush or quicken your pulse. But they can be extremely practical in a portfolio. Typically known for their ability to generate income, this category of ETFs has seen rapid evolution of late with new entrants that focus on areas such as data centers. It's also made picking the right REIT ETF all the more confusing since there's now dozens of them.

On this episode of Trillions, Eric and Joel are joined by REIT trader David Auerbach of World Equity Group as well as Kevin Kelly, a managing partner of Benchmark Investments, the index provider for a few of the new REIT entrants. They discuss the basics of REITs, the pros and cons of category king $VNQ as well as the new generation of REIT ETFs such as $SRVR, $HOMZ, $NETL and, what else, $REIT.

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A few decades ago, nobody really questioned vaccines. They were viewed as a standard part of staying healthy and safe. Today, the number of people questioning vaccines risks prolonging a pandemic that has already killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. How we got to this moment didn’t start with the rollout of vaccines or in March 2020, or even with the election of Donald Trump. Our confidence in vaccines, often isn't even about vaccines. It’s about trust. And that trust has been eroding for a long time. Doubt, a new series from Bloomberg’s Prognosis podcast, looks at the forces that have been breaking down that trust. We'll trace the rise of vaccine skepticism in America to show how we got here — and where we’re going. Doubt launches on March 23. Subscribe to Prognosis today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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More than 150 years after the end of slavery in the U.S., the net worth of a typical white family is nearly six times greater than that of the average Black family. Season 3 of The Pay Check digs into into how we got to where we are today and what can be done to narrow the yawning racial wealth gap in the U.S.

Jackie Simmons and Rebecca Greenfield co-host the season, which kicks off with a personal story about land Jackie's family acquired some time after slavery that they're on the verge of losing. From there the series explores all the ways the wealth gaps manifests and the radical solutions, like affirmative action, quotas, and reparations, that can potentially lead to greater equality.

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This month showed how much inflation concerns and an uptick in bond yields can mess with a portfolio. It showed the vulnerability of high flying investments such as bitcoin and ARK as well as how a 60/40 portfolio can have both the 60 and the 40 go down together. So yeah, inflation is a big deal. But is it real or just another head fake?

On this week's episode of Trillions we speak with Jim Bianco, president and founder of Bianco Research LLC, on why he's taking inflation more seriously this time and what a 60/40 investor can do. He also talks ARK ETFs and its haters, bitcoin's potential and why the retail day trader is here to stay even post-pandemic. 

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Magic mushrooms, LSD and ketamine used to be associated with psychedelic trips and fun weekends. Now they’re increasingly viewed as serious medicine that can be used to treat ailments such as depression and PTSD. The small but fast-growing industry even has its first ETF — the Canadian-listed Horizons Psychedelic Stock ETF, or PSYK.

On this episode of Trillions, Eric and Joel speak with Steve Hawkins, the CEO of the firm behind the ETF, who was also behind the world’s first cannabis ETF. He talks the about sector outlook, underlying business fundamentals, the design of the ETF — and whether he plans to start micro-dosing LSD.

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ETFs tend to sit in the back seat while active players drive prices in the stock market. But what happens when the driver is a hellbent Reddit message board? Well, the world got a flavor of that last week when retail traders on the subreddit WallStreetBets sent a few meme stocks — most notably GameStop — "to the moon," temporarily hijacking a few ETFs in the process. 

On this episode of Trillions, Eric and Joel are joined by Katherine Greifeld and Claire Ballentine of Bloomberg News, who plunged into the depths of Reddit and followed the fast-moving story closely. The group discusses all the ETF angles of this unusually riveting — and often even funny — story. 

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It’s a new year, and maybe a new you. There’s also a completely new political landscape in Washington DC and probably another big round of stimulus money. What’s an investor to do? Talking to a financial advisor seems like a good first step.

On this episode of Trillions, Eric and Joel are joined once again by Barry Ritholtz, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, who’s fielding all kinds of questions from clients right now. They discuss the new administration, his economic outlook, plus his views on Tesla, Bitcoin, ARK, and more.

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Cathie Wood of ARK is not the first highly concentrated active manager to shoot the lights out for half a decade while sparking a stampede of flows into their funds. There have been many throughout history but perhaps the one that most echoes ARK today is the famous Janus Twenty Fund, which dominated the latter half of the '90s and early 2000s with very similar returns and flows to what ARK is experiencing, albeit one met with a 50% downturn when the Internet bubble burst. 

On this episode of Trillions, we speak to Scott Schoelzel, the former PM of the Janus Twenty during the fund's magical stretch from 1998 to 2007. Having lived through the ups and downs of cycles, he gives us his thoughts on the current situation with ARK, advice for the firm's investors as well as his takes on the state of active management, ETFs, the Fed and what he's up to these days living out on his farm in Colorado. 

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Covering ETFs this year was like trying to hit a constantly moving target. Businessweek's annual “Jealousy List” -- stories by other outlets that the magazine's staff wish they would've published -- inspired Eric and Joel to bring an ETF version of the idea to Trillions. On this episode, Katherine Greifeld, Claire Ballentine, and Yakob Petersseil of Bloomberg News, who specialize in covering ETFs, join them to discuss a few of the articles they wish they had written this year, about topics such as ETNs, volatility, target date funds, and concerns about index funds. Honorees include New York's Josh Barro; ETF Trends's Dave Nadig; WSJ's Akane Otani, Sebastian Pellejero and Chana Schoenberger; and Institutional Investor's Leanna Orr. Eric also highlights some of his favorites by his colleagues at Bloomberg News. 

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There’s so much going on in the ETF world right now as all kinds of trends, strategies, themes and companies collide in this hotter-than-ever market which is on pace to post another record year for inflows - and volume - in 2020. Next year could be even bigger too as many ‘Big Active’ mutual fund firms representing $10 trillion in assets look to make up for lost time. 

So what should you watch for in 2021? Rather than do another “outlook” Bloomberg Intelligence’s ETF team has come out with a report that highlights 21 ETFs to watch 2021. Analysts Athanasios Psarafagis, James Seyffart and Morgan Barna join us to go over their contributions to the full list, which are as follows: DFAU, SPGP, ICVT, VXUS, GBTC, SNPE, OVL, SQQQ, ARKK, SVAL, MSOS, VTI, QQQJ, KMED, BATT, NETL, IBUY, SPAK, USMV, FDG and LQD.

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