ETF Investment

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#1
Reproduced below from Share Investment
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A Portfolio of ETFs
by Andy Chiok

According to Barclays Global Investor, the United States is the world leader in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) with assets under management of US$640 billion while Europe comes in at a distant second with US$206 billion of assets. Globally, ETFs stand very close to the US$1 trillion mark, with US$942 billion in assets at the end of October 2009. There are 1,859 ETFs listed in 40 exchanges around the world.

In Singapore, ETFs have been listed on the Singapore Exchange since 2002. In 2009, the Singapore ETF market has hit over S$800 million in turnover and 120 million in volume. As of January 2010, there are 49 ETFs listed covering equities, commodities, fixed income, and money market.

So, why are the majority of investors in Singapore still engaged in stock picking? Why is the financial planning industry here still holding on to unit trusts and not offering clients the benefits of relatively low cost, convenient, transparent, and well-diversified tracker funds that are traded on stock exchanges around the world? When asked if he will be starting ETF investing, a top executive who has been tasked to restructure a local wealth management firm says, “…for now, we will only be looking at unit trusts. Maybe we will be starting ETF trading in the future. But not now.”

New Independent, a financial planning/ advisory firm in Singapore, has launched ‘wrap accounts’ for ETFs with a product called Fulcrum in 2009. According to Joseph Chong, Chief Executive of New Independent, “Fulcrum (will) allow the investor to go long or short in equities, fixed income, commodities, etc. (It will) allow the individual investor to invest like a hedge fund but with transparency, control, and low cost.”

Despite all the advantages, the take-up rate is not high. This leaves one to suspect that the bulk of the figure being released by the Singapore Exchange on ETF trading relates to institutional investors. Ignorance on the part of investors and financial advisors (they are insurance agents, after all) and the preference for the familiar may be reasons why ETF is ‘shunned’. There is even a ridiculous boast on an online investment forum of the ability to trade the stock market by observing movements in ETFs!

Which brings us to the question, “What is an Exchange Traded Fund?”

An ETF is traded over the stock exchange and is bought and sold just like ordinary stocks and shares. It tries to replicate a particular index so buying an ETF is tantamount to buying the entire basket of stocks that are composites of the index. The biggest advantage is the diversification that an ETF offers, secondary is the relatively low cost involved.

Being a tracker fund – that is, a passively managed fund – ETFs have relatively low expense ratios. This makes them cheaper alternatives to actively managed funds, and better performers, too. Although there is still an unresolved debate over the merits of actively versus passively managed funds, a simple illustration should settle the matter. The S&P 500 has registered a change of *+10.77 percent Year to Date. Not many unit trusts can boast that…

On top of this, an investor can also hedge his holdings in, say, unit trusts by purchasing ‘short’ ETFs that track the index that his cash positions are benchmarked against. Although it can never be a perfect hedge, it is, nevertheless, a cushion against adverse market conditions. There is no need to meddle with futures contracts and be exposed to risks that are involved in leverage. ETF is another way of assessing the index.

The best way to construct a portfolio of ETF is to follow the KISS maxim: keep the portfolio and trading tactics as simple as possible.

Picking just a few ETFs that should beat the broader market while using stops and limits will do the trick. It is always easier to monitor and switch between longs and shorts with a few rather than a lot. ETFs can also play a part in a disciplined investment plan. According to Chong, “Absolute returns regardless of market direction will be achieved by combining and diversifying among long and short (also known as inverse) ETFs.”

Now the bad news: ETFs are so laden with derivatives that it will make a Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO) cry in shame…

There are 3 ways an index can be replicated. The easiest is to purchase all the stocks (in its right weightage) in the index. These are the cash-based ETFs. While this is a simple task for a small index such as the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average, it becomes a challenge for one to replicate the S&P 500 and a nightmare for the Russell 2000.

A swap-based ETF is one that replicates the index by holding a basket of stocks that is not related to the index while entering into an agreement (swap contract) with a counterparty to deliver the performance of the index. According to Barclays Global Investors, if the basket of stocks under-performs the benchmark index, the counterparty of the swap contract will have to make up the difference in the under-performance so that the ETF can fulfill its objective of tracking the index. If the reverse should happen and the ETF out-performs the index, then it (the ETF) will have to pay the difference to the counterparty.

With derivatives such as swaps comes counterparty risk. Consider this: An ETF under-performs the index and the counterparty of the swap contract has to make good the difference. What happens if the counterparty defaults? To mitigate this, regulations dictate that the use of swaps – and therefore counterparty risk – be limited to a certain percentage of the fund. Another point to note is that swap-based ETFs also tend to be less transparent. Investors may not have any idea of the details behind the swaps.

Another method of constructing an ETF is through representative sampling. Sometimes it is just not feasible or necessary for the manager to hold all the stocks of an index. The manager need only selects securities that represent the various industries in an attempt to replicate the index without owning all the stocks. Sampling will require the manager to use sophisticated stock optimization process to help minimize tracking error.

Of the 49 ETFs being traded on the Singapore Exchange, about half are swap-based.

Since ETFs are not constructed the same way, risks – other than market risk – are also different between ETFs. Always remember to refer to the prospectus before purchasing any collective investment schemes to fully understand the make-up of the investment scheme. This not only refers to unit trusts but ETFs as well.
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#2
Thanks for the article egghead

1. reading this, there should be some costs incurred by the ETF manager in engaging the counterparty swap (like an insurance premium).
2. with this explanation, it is also clearer that 50% of local ETFs are less than straightforward, maybe more.
3. therefore, may be no surprise that investors have chosen to invest direct in stocks they understand more clearly.
4. a lot of investors (like me) think we can out-perform the market, so ETFs are not good enough.
5. the more sectorial the ETF, i guess there would be more risks in construction. Athough they can be mitigated by reading the prospectus, complication in construction then means that investors always need to bear in mind the translation risk

just my thoughts...
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#3
Popular wisdom has it that unit trusts under-perform their index most of the time. Looking around visually at most trust fund fact sheet charts, it was easy for me to draw the same conclusion. Anyway, decided to try and do a more proper comparison of ETF vs Unit Trust for Korea and share it here with other ancillary information.

Perhaps this is not a representative sample, but it appears to me that results might only be more clear-cut over a longer period > 1yr. Please draw your own conclusions. Any comments would be welcome.

[Image: 20qywko.jpg]

Note:
1. Unfortunately both ETF’s did not have 5 yr records as they started late.
2. Had trouble getting an apple to apple comparison due to cut-offs, calculation methods by different vendors etc but think the data is good enough for the purpose. The 3rd yr performances are probably very sensitive to diff cut-off date due to high market variation during that period.
3. Funds incurr initial sales fees. ETFs have brokerage charges and spread.
4. Rest of fees are built into the sales prices.
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#4
It is actually quite simple to explain how ETFs outperform.
(hey I am a toe, not a rocket scientist, so I like to make things simple)

There will be(fund managers) winners and losers and the nett result will be the performance of the benchmark.
STI ETF goes up, there are more fund manager winners than losers.
However, think about the fees these guys are charging. Compounded over many years and we can clearly see how much
an ETF can outperform a unit trust.

Managers are under immense pressure to perform...over a shorter and shorter period.
The cost of switching a position can be very costly. I remember sometime back a very large 'garment' fund bought into Merill Lynch and end up holding Bank of America and it was sold off at a record low to focus on 'emerging' markets. A classic example of how costly switching can be.
There was some update on the garment fund taking new small stakes in >100 companies. Only god knows what they are up to, coz I dont think they know.





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#5
Hi Big Toe,

I tried to do the comparison to better convince myself that ETFs are indeed the better choice to unit trusts. Although ETFs mean there is no need to pay for the fat sevices of a team of stock analysts, there must be a price to be paid for the constant maintenance of the ETF such that it follows the underlying index. There is a cost for arranging the arbitrage. Just like the fat salaries paid out, the cost of such swaps are not clearly apparent. I also question the risks involved. Are the swaps always guaranteed to do their work? Who takes the fall if they don't because of agent error or business failure? Remembering the structured products, I believe the investor is the one that loses out, as usual.

Am not defending the fund managers, however I feel that i can better "see" what they are doing, what stocks they are actually holding, their market actions (albeit delayed). With ETFs, the swaps appear like rocket science - hence my discomfort. Therefore, I thought that one way is to compare actual performance so as to better see any hidden costs.

Agree about the poor performance of many fund managers lining their pockets with much non-value added (maybe -ve value) activity. However, I believe many of us would be happy to pay Warren Buffet to invest our assets. So maybe its not fair to tar all fund managers with the same brush. Just like good companies/stocks and bad ones, there should be good and bad fund managers.

Any forummers actually bought into ETFs and held for a while? Comments welcomed.

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#6
Just keep to the other half of the ETF market if you are not comfortable with swap based......

Nothing much to it really, they still sent annual reports etc.......the only thing that's different is that there is no commentary about the business
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#7
(31-01-2011, 12:13 PM)mikh Wrote: Am not defending the fund managers, however I feel that i can better "see" what they are doing, what stocks they are actually holding, their market actions (albeit delayed). With ETFs, the swaps appear like rocket science - hence my discomfort. Therefore, I thought that one way is to compare actual performance so as to better see any hidden costs.

Theorectically speaking,

Just look at the counterparty financial position of equity swaps issued by the ETF to determine the security of swap based returns. Usually the swaps taken over the other side is fixed income based. I am not sure whether do they diversify the counterparties but essentially swaps are a debt obligation and thus legally enforcable, so there should not be an impact too great if any counterparty defaults.
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#8
Investing with fund managers = ownself assume all risk + pay high annual charges

Investing by oneself in ETF or own selected stocks = ownself assume all risk + pay lower annual charges/ trading charges (*depends on annual turnover of portfolio)

Either way, the investor is solely responsible for the results of his investment. The fund manager is not going to be responsible for the results of one's investment. Try complaining to one's fund manager about an unsatisfactory investment result and see if one gets answered for it.

It becomes clear that the best way is to educate oneself to become knowledgeable in investing so that one is confident to do it on his own and avoid paying higher charges to others (which may not always necessarily be better) to handle one's investments. Smile
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#9
Thanks for comments newborn, engineer and jeremy.
For local stocks, I can buy direct. I am interested in diversification and overseas markets which are harder to handle. That is why I am looking at etfs and fund managers.

I followed up with Lyxor and DB x-trackers. They clearly told me that ALL their etfs employ swaps backed by stock collaterals. I don't know how Andy Chiok derived his (only) 50% etf being swap based since the majority of S'pore etfs are by these two parties.

I was told that the collaterals are mandated by a Luxembourg regulation and using some other 3rd party to calculate periodically to ensure collaterals are sufficient. Close to what mrEngineer says, the list on Lyxor's website includes brand name equities which are supposed to more than cover for the etf. Now, should I take this at face value? Anyway, it gets less transparent. It's looking like more work to try and protect my money while investing in etf's. Maybe i should just take some small risk and make some judgement calls...or avoid something i don't fully understand yet.
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#10
those ETFs employing swaps could be potential CDO....
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