On ETFs: Part Two of What Investment When

This is the mutual fund: There was a time when the art of a fallen empire portrayed something opposite of the reality. In an exhibition at the Asia Society in New York, images from a period in India's past, when the Mughal ruled an empire that spanned from 1707 to 1857, offer the viewer a look at a facade of peacefulness. You are forced to avoid looking at the reality of life in those pre-British days by focusing on images of receptions, celebrations of holidays and the opulence of serenity. While beneath the surface an empire was crumbling under the rule of these princes on palanquins, the art suggests otherwise. We derived the word mogul from these rulers who dressed in pearl-embroidered shoes and decorative tunics.

This is the mutual fund in 2012. The facade belies the undercurrent of decline. It is a time when what was is slowly being replaced by another ruling party, a new-comer to the scene of investing: the ETF. This investment, like the invasion of this nineteenth century country by the British, is on the cusp of replacing the empire of the mutual fund. If you are paying even passing attention to the world of investing, this displacement comes with a price.

The exchange traded fund or ETF is slowly moving to the forefront of our investment options. The question for you, the one you will ask yourself: is this an investment worthy of my attention? Should I look at the picture the enthusiasts of this financial product paint for you and simply admire the brush stroke and the nuance or should you instead focus on the placard alongside the painting for a deeper understanding of the product?

The ETF is building an enviable empire based on the decline of the mutual fund. Largely made of the same materials, the ETF offers many of the same attributes as a run-of-the-mill index fund with several exceptions. Those differences are part of the marketing strategy proponents of this investment push to the forefront. The decision, they suggest goes beyond the what traditional indexed mutual funds offer, giving the investor a different sort of control.

They will tell you that these funds can be bought throughout the trading day. For the average investor, this added ability to buy and sell a fund like a stock on an exchange only leads to more questions. What does this attribute mean to you? Why should this mean anything at all?

Most mutual fund investors are of the buy and hold variety. We use them largely in our defined contribution plans or 401(k)s. They populate a world that is bound by the whim of our plan providers and sponsors. And inside that world, they offer a vision of retirement that is directed by you for you. And while ETFs are making inroads into this closed circle, your current exposure to this investment is largely on the outside of these plans.

The exchange traded fund offers additional options than simple tradability. It offers lower fees in many instances when compared side-by-side with the mutual fund. The difference can be slight but noteworthy over long periods of time. So it may be the best buy-and-hold option for the investor with that mindset. If that is the case, then actively trading ETFs is not a selling point and the fractionally lower fees may make them not worth the effort - or cost.

What does set this investment apart is the construction of the fund itself. Unlike the mutual fund, which is built (or deconstructed) with every contribution (or withdrawal). A mutual fund must sell shares to pay for those exiting the fund and buy shares with new money. ETFs buy a basket of stocks in advance of you ever investing a single dollar. And that dollar doesn't impact the overall "basket" one iota whether you invest in or out. This attribute leads to more stability in the investment, less price variation and more transparency.

But like the Mughal painters whose courtly portrayal of an empire in decline, whose story is masked by opulence and celebration, the artist of the ETF may be masking some truths as well.

The ETF offers a new empire. While the definition of empire is based on how much geographic impact the rulers had at a particular time, the ETF empire is still growing, grabbing investor real estate at an enviable rate. If history offers any indication, the ETF empire will continue to grow, amassing population and expanding boundaries.

And as they do, the territory they claim as their own will be like all empires, hard to rule, sparsely inhabited and lorded over by tribes that only offer allegiance in passing. This will be where ETFs are tested. Not in the traditional and heavily populated markets; but on the fringes.

And this is where you should exercise caution. Like all expansive empires, the rules change the farther one travels from the most populated places. You may think that you are still in the ETF empire and from all indications on the map you are. But the danger in this investment grows with every footfall beyond the center of the empire. This is how the mutual fund began its decline, as fund families looked for more arcane offerings further afield. Will ETFs suffer the same fate, offering the rule of law where law is not always embraced?

Quite possibly. To use ETFs, one must stay close to the glow, the core of the investment idea. Because the farther out you venture, the more likely you will find investment options with higher risks and less transparency, higher fees and more narrow focus. So as ETFs make their land grab be cautious of what the ETF actually is. It is an investment. It does cost less. The risk seems to be lower.

But venture into the hinterlands of this growing empire and you will see the dangers increase, the risk become more apparent and while the names of these far flung locales will always suggest ETF, it won't be the same ETF. It is on the fringes that the mutual fund has begun its decline. It will be the same for the ETF if history is any indication.

Investing in the New Year: Are Mutual Funds Important in 2012?

This article originally appeared at BlueCollarDollar.com and was written by Paul Petillo

"Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it you can never get it back." Harvey MacKay

One of the key elements in any financial transaction is time. If you want to retire, you must consider the amount of time. If you want to borrow, how long you have to pay it back can be translated into dollars and cents. Investing; timing they suggest can't be down but is important nonetheless.

If you are twenty, time is on your side. If you are thirty, there is time left. If you are forty, time is of the essence. If you are fifty, time is running out. If you are sixty, where has the time gone. And older than that, time is no longer on your side. It accompanies us through life like some dark passenger. It reflect back on us from the mirror. And when we look at our retirement plan, it stares at us without guilt or shame. Time is the truth.

When I first began writing these predictions, and I've been churning out these year end ditties for over a decade, many were laced with optimism, some with an urging that we learn the lesson and move forward armed with knowledge of past mistakes, and still others were exercises in reality. In 2012, we have some opportunities and some problems awaiting us, left on the table as we symbolically turn the calendar wiping out 2011. But it won't leave quietly.

So I have a few thoughts about what you can do - resolutions of sorts but not the drastic sort we make and break almost within hours of promising ourselves at midnight.

Increase your contribution I start with this obvious chant for two reasons: you aren't making a large enough contribution and two, I would be remiss in not telling you this right from the start. And I'm not just speaking to those with a 401(k).

There are the millions of you who are forced to (and because of that are not likely to) finance your own retirement through an individual retirement account. We lament at the worker who literally only has to sign up at his workplace and doesn't. And far too often, we say little about the person who has to sign-up (after finding a fund), commit with a fortitude that is somewhat lacking and to contribute some of their paycheck via direct deposit every week or month. That effort, it seems is a much more involved hurdle.

In 2012, the investment world will be little changed. It will roil and confuse and gyrate and possibly even nose dive - just as it has for decades. It will react to news - if not from Europe form China or even the presidential elections (which ironically tend to be excellent years to invest). This will have you second-guessing your investments. But this will only apply if you have no idea how much risk you can take.

Pay attention to diversification You may not be capable of rebalancing, the act of making sure that your investments are directed evenly across many investments. This is much harder than it seems. As long as you are involved - and that is YOU in capitals - the struggle to keep balance will not get any easier.

For the vast majority of us, mutual funds will be the investment vehicle of choice. These investments will see more movement towards fee reductions. Which is a good thing. Fees will and always have been a subtraction of gains. This makes an excellent argument for indexing.

Choosing six index funds across the following cross-sections of the markets will not solve the problem of rebalancing (some will do better than others) but it will provide diversification. Index the largest companies (an S&P 500 fund), a mid-cap fund (the next 400 companies in size), small-caps (the next 2000), an international fund (an index of the largest countries (those with established banking systems even if they are currently troubled and will continue to be so in 2012), an emerging market fund (after international funds, the most risky) and a bond index (one that covers as much fixed income as possible).

Some of you will wonder if exchange traded funds (ETF) wouldn't be just as good if not better than simple indexing. In 2012, ETFs will continue to drill down ever deeper into sectors of the markets that add risk along with the illusion of an index. ETFs will become more actively managed in 2012 offering you more risk at a lower cost. Cheap doesn't mean better. 2012 will be year of the ETF. If you are unsure what these investments are, consider this conversation I had with David Abner of Financial Impact Factor Radio recently to help explain what these investments are and how they work.

Focus on your financial well-being This refers to your credit score. It continues to impact your financial future and will become increasingly harder to ignore. A new credit rating service agency will add to the difficulty in 2012 and not only will the current scoring impact costs such as insurance, it will seek to trace the breadcrumbs of your financial life more thoroughly that the big three do.

There is little likelihood that the job market will increase as many of our returning troops will flood the marketplace, taking numerous jobs from your kids just out of college. Which means another year with your kids at home. The only answer to this problem is to continue to tighten down your budgets in 2012. As I mentioned earlier: "If you are forty, time is of the essence. If you are fifty, time is running out. If you are sixty, where has the time gone."

And you must do this understanding that inflation - not the reported number but the real number in your grocery bill - will still chip away at your wealth. This means you will move in two opposite directs in 2012: saving and investing more for your fleeting future (at least 6% but 10% would be best) and spending less in the present (easy of you don't use credit).

And the housing market will improve for those who have repaired any damaged credit or who have saved enough of a down payment to buy a house. people are still buying and selling. These people have found that while the market is not accessible to all, it is for those that have done right by their personal finances.

Do all of that this may not seem like a new year - but it will be a better year!

Don't Know ETFs: Here's the Expert

This past week, on the Financial Impact Factor with Paul Petillo, Dave Kittredge and Dave Ng we had David J. Abner. He is the Director for Institutional Sales and Trading at Wisdom Tree and the author of The ETF Handbook: How to Value and Trade Exchange Traded Funds (Wiley Finance) These funds, that trade like stocks have been coming to the forefront of the investment world for almost a decade. But even after all that time, their purpose isn't clearly understood, their benefits less so and the media, suggesting volatility has dampened our enthusiasm towards them. Mr. Abner discusses these products, what they are and why they are important. ETFs will begin showing up in your 401(k) as investor demand and plan administrator's fiduciary responsibility tightens. This increase exposure is good for the funds; but are the good for you?

Listen to internet radio with

Paul Petillo of Target2025.com/BlueCollarDollar.com

and Dave Kittredge and Dave Ng

of FinancialFootprint.com

on

The Financial Impact Factor

at Blog Talk Radio

The Lure of ETFs

I know two things about exchange traded funds (ETFs). There is a high degree of likelihood that your 401(k) will soon have these investments available to you and that some of the basic selling points of why they might be a good choice will be too tempting to pass up. But you should consider the consequences of biting that ETF apple, not just from the consideration of whether the investment is worth the effort, but also from whether you are the investor you think you might be.

So let's first ask whether you understand what ETFs are. At first glance, they seem to be a good choice. They, at least on the surface offer exactly what index funds do and at times, a great deal more. They claim to be less expensive and more tax efficient that actively managed mutual funds and they are. Actively managed mutual funds, even as they have reduced their overall fees in order to placate those who worry that cost is an issue, still charge more than ETFs.

Actively managed mutual funds still dominate the 401(k) world and with good reason. Investors seem to understand, even after several years of concerted efforts by the investment community, that some risk is worth paying for. This is not always the case. The deduction of those fees against any returns you may have had illustrate why these funds are often criticized. Comparing them to an index fund, while often not necessarily fair, further shows that had you paid less in fees using an passively managed index fund you probably would have been a little bit closer to what you think of as profitable.

Passively managed funds such as index funds have passionate advocates. They believe that investing in the low-cost (because they rarely trade and do so only rebalance when the index changes) and in the case of the S&P 500 index, reinvest dividends (over 350 companies in the 500 index do) you have achieved the tax advantage, the fee advantage and because of that, a more profitable retirement dollar.

Both of the descriptions of the two most commonly used types of funds in a retirement account portray the investment possibilities facing most investors. It should be noted that not all 401(k) plans have index funds available to their participants, the option is growing. But also entering the fray is the exchange traded fund.

Now these investments will be tempting. They tout their tax efficiency suggesting that it is even better than an index fund offers. They advertise their transparency and ease of trading (they trade on an exchange just like a stock). And they never fail to tell you that these investment offer the world in a way that has never before been offered to 401(k) investors, a chance to invest in commodities, emerging markets and anything in-between. And because of this ease of maneuvering in and out on a whim, they claim to lower risk as well.

But do they do what they claim they will do? This is debatable. First, they are not index funds. They do not necessarily purchase all of the stocks in an index even as they suggest they might. Instead, many ETFs create their own indexes to follow and seek to invest in places where indexes have yet to trod. Mark P. Cussen, a financial planner for the military wrote recently about a little understood method employed by ETFs to get gains that seem better than the index they are suggesting they mimic. He wrote: "Most of these funds are usually leveraged by a factor of up to three, which can amplify the gains posted by the underlying vehicles and provide huge, quick profits for investors. Of course, leverage works both ways, and those who bet wrong can sustain big losses in a hurry." Leverage is another word for borrowing.

If there is an asset class, there is an ETF looking to exploit it. if you are hearing a lot about a certain class, such as precious metals, the temptation to join in the fray might be too hard to avoid. ETFs allow you to jump in "with the herd" and sell "with the herd". neither are necessarily a good idea and if you keep in mind, the low cost and tax efficiency of doing so are mostly wiped away. In order for ETFs to be both of those, you need to buy in large lots, offsetting the cost of the trade (commission) and you need to hold them for over a year. Small traders, which is the vast majority of us do neither - and won't if you buy them.

I mention "the herd". This mentality os what will drive you to consider this investment once it makes its debut in your plan. Instead, consider the vanilla index fund and what has become known as the tactical strategy. This employs a portion of your plan to just such whims while keeping the larger portion in the funds that will do the best with the least cost.

A tactical strategy might look something like this for young to middle aged investors: seventy percent of your assets in three to six index funds and thirty percent allocated to ETFs or even actively managed funds. Older investors might do the same but keep in mind that many major economic watchdog groups have warned that ETFs could be the next global financial troublemaker. And if that happens and happens quickly, the losses on that side of your portfolio close to retirement might find you less likely to retire when you want.

You will be tempted. And many of you will bite. But don't think that this investment can't bite back. It can and it might and unless you plan for such an occurance, the teethmarks it leaves in your plan might be long-term and scarring.