By Emmett Shiras
A notable shift occurred in 2022 as money market fund (MMF) yields went from near zero to over 5% following the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) plans to tighten monetary policy in response to inflationary pressures. This surge in yields has attracted significant inflows, propelling MMF assets to record levels exceeding $6 tril…
By Emmett Shiras, CFA, CAIA
Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, were first developed in the early 1990s as a way to provide access to passive, indexed funds to investors. As an alternative investment vehicle to mutual funds, the ETF has continued to grow in popularity. By the 2000s, the first actively-managed ETF was launched. Although still a small…
By Emmett Shiras, CFA, CAIA
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria have become a top priority for many investors and portfolio managers when it comes to investment decision-making. ESG strategies, also known as sustainable funds, accounted for nearly one-fourth of overall flows into open-end funds and ETFs in the United States last…
By Emmett Shiras, CFA, CAIA
This blog post examines the use and benefits of dividends and share buybacks in the United States and Europe, as well as the significant impact of COVID-19 on these forms of profit distribution. Furthermore, we compare the shareholder yield metric, which is a more complete measure of shareholder return, to the dividend…
By Emmett Shiras, CFA, CAIA
Active management has faced challenges over the recent decade. In particular, the U.S. large-cap space has proven to be a difficult area for active managers to add value. Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google have dominated returns and make up a significant weight in the Russell 1000 Index. The companies’ combined $6.2…
