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A horde of new ETF sponsors want your investment dollars, And they're eager to entice you with often ill-conceived and unnecessary products. And if the products don't catch on, their sponsors are quick to terminate them.
Investment firms view ETFs as a way to rake in money quickly without having to pay big salaries to analysts and experienced portfolio managers. If the ETFs attract enough money, "some of these smaller shops hope to get bought out," says Dustin Lewellyn, director of ETF products for Northern Trust.
The newbies know they can't compete with the likes of iShares and Vanguard because of the established players' superlow expenses, so they frequently create gimmicky funds that often don't track a real index. FocusShares, for example, offers an ETF that invests in companies that derive a substantial portion of their revenues from doing business with Wal-Mart. HealthShares offers a "Dermatology & Wound Care" ETF. Claymore invented a fund that invests in makers of vaccines and another that invests in "Sudan-free" companies.
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Make that invested. In February, Claymore shuttered those two and nine other ETFs that didn't attract significant quantities of assets. Ten of the funds were less than a year old. XShares shut seven real estate ETFs in July, just 13 months after launching them. None added much to the existing roster of established realty ETFs.
Don't worry if an ETF you own winds up on the chopping block. It's not like a company going out of business -- you'll get your money back. It's mostly an inconvenience. And considering how silly some of these ETFs are, it might turn out to be a stroke of good fortune.
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Nasdaq Slides 1.4% on Big Tech Questions: Stock Market TodayPalantir Technologies proves at least one publicly traded company can spend a lot of money on AI and make a lot of money on AI.
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Should You Do Your Own Taxes This Year or Hire a Pro?Taxes Doing your own taxes isn’t easy, and hiring a tax pro isn’t cheap. Here’s a guide to help you figure out whether to tackle the job on your own or hire a professional.
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Trump $10B IRS Lawsuit Hits an Already Chaotic 2026 Tax SeasonTax Law A new Trump lawsuit and warnings from a tax-industry watchdog point to an IRS under strain, just as millions of taxpayers begin filing their 2025 returns.
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Best Banks for High-Net-Worth Clientswealth management These banks welcome customers who keep high balances in deposit and investment accounts, showering them with fee breaks and access to financial-planning services.
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Stock Market Holidays in 2026: NYSE, NASDAQ and Wall Street HolidaysMarkets When are the stock market holidays? Here, we look at which days the NYSE, Nasdaq and bond markets are off in 2026.
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The Current I-Bond Rate Is Mildly Attractive. Here's Why.Investing for Income The current I-bond rate is active until April 2026 and presents an attractive value, if not as attractive as in the recent past.
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What Are I-Bonds? Inflation Made Them Popular. What Now?savings bonds Inflation has made Series I savings bonds, known as I-bonds, enormously popular with risk-averse investors. How do they work?
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This New Sustainable ETF’s Pitch? Give Back Profits.investing Newday’s ETF partners with UNICEF and other groups.
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As the Market Falls, New Retirees Need a Planretirement If you’re in the early stages of your retirement, you’re likely in a rough spot watching your portfolio shrink. We have some strategies to make the best of things.
