Thanks to Section 351 of the US tax code, investors can contribute their appreciated assets directly into an ETF structure without realizing gains at the time of transfer. Here, we briefly explain the mechanics, limitations, and potential benefits and risks of a 351 exchange to seed a new ETF with appreciated assets.
Dimensional Fund Advisors is becoming the first asset manager to launch an exchange-traded fund share class of a mutual fund since Vanguard Group’s patent on the model expired nearly three years ago.
In February, market sentiment was shaped by escalating US-Iran geopolitical tensions and sector-specific selloffs driven by concerns about AI’s potential disruption to existing business models.
In practice, many advisors use SMAs alongside ETFs, not instead of them—combining the scalability of ETFs with the customization and tax management SMAs can provide.
History made: Dimensional launches first active ETF share class. Access 40 years of micro-cap expertise in a tax-efficient ETF wrapper.
Muni bonds have been a strong performer so far in 2026, benefitting from an important transition to the ETF wrapper from mutual funds.
As advisors explore 2026 ETF Trends, Exchange presented a session covering top-of-mind stories. The session featured members from Women in ETFs, that inlcuded J.P. Morgan’s Julie Abbett, American Century Investments’ Cleo Chang, Fidelity Investments’ Lubna Lundy, and moderator Roxanna Islam from VettaFi, who unpacked the state of ETF markets in 2026.
In this article, Russ Koesterich notes the year-to-date strength of both cyclical and defensive stocks, a pairing that seems too strange to last.
Volatility spiked as investors questioned the Federal Reserve's next move, adding to existing concerns about private credit markets. Here's why investors shouldn't overreact.
Recessions are a regular part of the economic cycle, which means planning ahead is essential. You can't control the economy, but you can take steps to help protect your savings, manage debt, and keep your goals on track. Here are some smart ways to prepare when the economy shifts.
Stocks were choppier in January, but most areas of the market showed gains. The one laggard was large-cap growth, which was strong in recent years and for most of 2025, but trailed other stock indices.
In this episode of ETF of the Week, Chuck Jaffe and Todd Rosenbluth (Head of Research at VettaFi) break down the Capital Group Dividend Value ETF (CGDV). While many dividend funds focus solely on high yield, CGDV takes a different approach by focusing on high-quality companies with the potential to pay and grow dividends. With a perfect five-star rating from both Morningstar and Lipper, this fund has rapidly grown to $30 billion in assets by consistently landing in the top 10% of its peer group.
A bidding war for Janus Henderson Group Plc broke out Thursday as Victory Capital Holdings Inc. offered to buy the money manager for $57.04 a share, in a move that topped a previous offer from Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management.
Almost 1,000 active ETFs launched in 2025, but did their performance substantiate the demand? Across the universe of funds, active managers for ETFs and mutual funds found that outperformance was elusive compared to their passive peers based on the latest Morningstar US Active/Passive Barometer report.
Income rather than price is the primary driver of FRN returns. As policy rates and SOFR move, FRN coupons adjust accordingly, allowing income to rise in higher-rate environments and decline when rates fall.
The central theme of 2025 was the disconnect between market sentiment and economic reality. The year began with widespread apprehension regarding aggressive tariffs and forecasts of a recession.
Many software stocks have been under pressure in recent months, as investors have started to perceive them as vulnerable to emerging artificial intelligence technology. As highlighted in the “6-Month Price History of the S&P Software and Service Index” chart, software stocks have declined roughly 27% from their September 2025 high.
For years, loading up on the biggest US technology stocks delivered a steady stream of riches — and avoiding them was a surefire ticket to the unemployment rolls. In 2026, the opposite has been true.
To love a bubble but hate a crash is to misunderstand the market. A bubble is a crash on its way to becoming. A crash is a bull market on its way to becoming. All we can do is to accept, and as difficult as it may be – embrace – whatever form we have in the present moment, so we can do our best with each of them.
Artificial intelligence fears have ripped through stock and bond markets, but investors in loans and private credit are still playing catch-up.
To make alternative investments appear attractive, promoters often claim that their products are only weakly correlated — or even uncorrelated — with traditional investments, while still offering competitive returns.
In this article, Russ Koesterich discusses the merits of continuing to hold tech companies while also exploring diversification outside of the sector.
SEC White Paper: Do fund mergers lower fees? Explore how economies of scale impact expense ratios and performance for ETFs and mutual funds.
It’s hard not to marvel at how America’s capital markets have rallied to finance the artificial intelligence boom. If all goes as expected, “hyperscalers” such as Meta Platforms Inc. will invest more than $3 trillion through 2030 in data and power infrastructure.
Is your portfolio too focused on U.S. large-cap stocks? In this episode of ETF of the Week, Chuck Jaffe and Todd Rosenbluth (Head of Research at VettaFi) dive deep into the Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund (VWO).
Vanguard Group Chief Executive Officer Salim Ramji is putting his imprint on the world’s second-largest asset manager by siphoning talent from Wall Street firms to fill key roles.
Client demand for tax planning is high, yet many advisors may still fall short of meeting expectations. Direct indexing can offer tax benefits such as the potential for tax-loss harvesting but remains underutilized across the advisor community.
Active fixed income ETFs stand out amid the broader transition from mutual funds to ETFs, with DSCO a recent switch.
In this episode of ETF of the Week, Chuck Jaffe sits down with Todd Rosenbluth, Head of Research at VettaFi, to break down why this "computer-enhanced" active fund is outperforming its peers and its benchmark by massive margins
As political pressure on the Federal Reserve intensifies and markets ponder the nomination of a new Chair, understanding this chain of risk is increasingly important for investors. Equity valuations are heavily affected by expectations for long-term cash flows, along with the interest rates and risk-premiums that drive how much investors are willing to pay for those future dollars.
Last week in our latest Cyclical Outlook, “Compounding Opportunity,” we argued that beneath the economy’s broad resilience lies a stark divergence. U.S. policy pivots combined with the surge in adoption of AI technology have created winners and losers.
While our outlook for the municipal bond market in 2026 is positive overall, we have identified five risks that we believe should be on investors' radar.
2025 will go down as another year of record-breaking achievements for exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Among the past year’s highlights was a record number of mutual funds converting to ETFs, as noted by Ben Johnson, Morningstar Head of Client Solutions, via a LinkedIn post.
Are you ready for the next evolution of the ETF market? In this episode of ETF Prime, host Nate Geraci is joined by industry heavyweights Cinthia Murphy (VettaFi) and Matt Bartolini (State Street Global Advisors) to break down the biggest trends, risks, and opportunities for investors in 2026.
For investors navigating an uncertain macro landscape, avoiding the wrong narratives may matter more than predicting the right numbers.
Nominal thinking in investing, a form of the "money illusion" bias, is the failure to account for inflation's erosion of purchasing power. The primary problems with this approach are overestimating real returns, misjudging true wealth, and making poor long-term investment decisions based on misleading nominal figures.
Another strong year for US equities in 2025 reminds us that tax loss harvesting has the potential to contribute substantial value to direct indexing portfolios—even during bull markets.
Municipal bonds enter 2026 as a compelling option for investors: attractive yields, strong fundamentals, and structural changes that continue to reshape the market. After a volatile 2025, marked by Treasury market dislocations and record muni issuance, the outlook for this year suggests more stability — and opportunity.
If you’ve been around anyone under the age of 25 lately, you have likely been exposed to the “Six-Seven” phenomenon, whereby kids react excitedly upon hearing or seeing the numbers 6 and 7 in sequence. It can come from anywhere at any time…
On this episode of the “ETF of the Week” podcast, VettaFi’s Head of Research, Todd Rosenbluth, discussed the iShares Systematic Alternative Active ETF (IALT) with Chuck Jaffe of Money Life. The pair discussed several topics related to the fund to give investors a deeper understanding of the ETF.
2026 promises to be anything but dull. Rapid AI investment and adoption will likely continue to dominate market sentiment, and given the pace of technological advancement, it is hard to imagine this won’t ultimately deliver meaningful productivity gains.
ETFs have come on in leaps and bounds since the ETF rule arrived in 2019. Exchange-traded funds are taking a bigger and bigger role in the investment landscape, offering a different route into many strategies compared to mutual funds.
The ETF industry just coming off a record year with nearly $1.5 trillion in net inflows. As we head into 2026, the "ETF Playbook" is changing. In this episode, host Nate Geraci is joined by Todd Rosenbluth, Head of Research at VettaFi, and Cullen Roche, Founder of Disciplined Funds, to break down the most critical trends facing investors this year.
Advisors who run or plan to run ETF-based portfolios need to have a formalized trading methodology. For those who haven’t yet developed one, this article is intended to help accelerate progress and avoid some risks that may not be obvious to anyone who is primarily experienced with trading mutual funds.
The defining feature of every bubble is the same: a growing inconsistency between the long-term returns that investors expect in their heads - based on extrapolation of the past, and the long-term returns that properly relate prices to likely future cash flows - based on valuations. Every bubble smuggles the same tragic past into the same tragic future by packaging it with new wrinkles that convince investors that this time is different. Ultimately, they still end the same way.
To help our clients and the marketplace navigate this evolving landscape, in the following sections, we’ve identified five key ETF industry themes to watch in 2026. These areas reflect the ongoing growth, innovation, and strategic shifts shaping the ETF industry, and they will be critical in understanding where opportunities and challenges lie in the year ahead.
Our 2026 outlook shows fixed income continuing to benefit from elevated rates, while equities still face a narrowing edge over risk-free investments.
On this special episode of the “ETF of the Week” podcast, VettaFi’s Head of Research, Todd Rosenbluth, reviewed some of his biggest takeaways for the ETF industry in 2025 with Chuck Jaffe of Money Life.
Participants’ financial well-being is our top priority, and we know that they’re struggling with emergency savings, so we’re offering a way for participants to save with confidence—the Vanguard Cash Plus Account.
AI remains the economy’s most powerful growth engine, but our Small Cap Growth team believes several other areas are also likely to deliver significant upside in the near-to-medium term.
