Alliance Bernstein converted two short duration mutual funds, worth almost $800 million in assets under management, into ETFs on Monday.

Inflation and interest rate hikes have not been kind to REITs and the funds that own them. However, their low valuations could indicate an opportunity for investors.

Zach Pandl, the head of research at Grayscale, spoke with VettaFi about bitcoin's current runup and what lies ahead for the cryptocurrency.

Last Friday, Bloomberg Senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas joined VettaFi vice chairman Tom Lydon and head of research Todd Rosenbluth for the VettaFi Cryptocurrency Symposium to talk about the launch of the first spot bitcoin ETFs the day before.

The past year saw the ETF industry barrel past the previous record for the number of launches in a calendar year, with 543 new ETFs hitting the market. The previous record was just under 480 in 2021, meaning 2023 beat that number by more than 60 funds.

What was the biggest story in ETFs in 2023 for you? What has the potential to have a lasting impact on the industry? Or is there something you think was a flash in the pan?

Third-quarter earnings announcements have almost come and gone, with yesterday being the last big burst of companies. Some key firms have yet to announce, like Nvidia and Walmart, but everything I’m seeing says it surpassed expectations.

Ether is the cryptocurrency of the Ethereum platform. Bitwise, ProShares, and Van Eck collectively rolled out a total of six funds that hold such futures. Additional similar funds from other issuers are in the works.

Now seems like a good time to talk about wrappers and which ones are best for different situations. How do you decide whether to use an ETF, a mutual fund, or something else?

There are differing opinions all around, but some reputable sources like Goldman Sachs are saying it’s increasingly unlikely. Yet the Fed is going to be raising rates further, from what it looks like because inflation is higher than they want.

Is AI going to be a major part of our lives going forward? Is it worthy of being classified as a megatrend? What are the best ways to access it as an investment? What are investors overlooking about AI as an investment theme?

This week the VettaFi Voices discuss what lies ahead for the U.S. economy and U.S. markets. Consumer confidence ticked up significantly from 102.5 in May to 109.7 in June.