Читать книгу The Institutional ETF Toolbox - Balchunas Eric - Страница 14

Everyone will tell you that getting your asset allocation is much more important than picking the right securities. The narrower you go in your investment decisions, the less impactful those decisions become. And when it comes to doing asset allocation, ETFs are like hitting the easy button.

“We’ll get broad exposure using ETFs. It’s a really easy, cheap way to accomplish what we are trying to accomplish, which is to own risk factors or asset classes, and it is the smart way to do it.”

Josh Brown, Ritholtz Wealth Management

ETFs are both broad and precise. They have packaged up virtually every single asset class, strategy, region, country, and even derivative that you can think of. Any investor – both institutional and retail – can now immediately get exposure to everything from real estate companies to short-term high-yield bonds to corn futures to China A-shares.

“What ETFs allow is a more focused or segmented approach than in the old days.”

Mark Yusko, Morgan Creek Capital Management

While asset allocation is typically associated with long-term buy-and-hold investors, it is also employed by managers with shorter horizons as well. You’ve heard of stock pickers. Now there are ETF pickers – except they are called ETF strategists.

“There are many people who pick stocks. If you walk down the streets of Boston, I would expect that 9 out of 10 investment managers you bump into pick securities. Yet at the asset class level, there are fewer people who compare assets. But the macro environments across the globe are not in sync, whether it is the economic cycle, credit cycle, or business cycle. So that creates opportunity to generate alpha through asset selection. ETFs are a perfect vehicle for that.”

Linda Zhang, Windhaven Investment Management

This also touches on one of the most fascinating aspect of ETFs, which is how they are at once a replacement for a mutual fund, hedge fund, or an SMA as well as a tool for a mutual fund, hedge fund, or SMA. That makes them a two-headed monster. It’s also why institutional exposure to ETFs can come from direct usage and/or indirect usage via external managers.

“What makes ETFs really different is that in addition to being a funds solution, they are actually a single security or exposure solution. That means they can be used as a substitute for an SMA or mutual fund, or they can be used as part of the SMA or mutual fund. And that’s what makes them unique.

Matthew Tucker, Blackrock