Size Really Does Matter…for ETFs

Via Abnormal Returns:

We are no strangers to the world of ETFs, but the following observation took us by surprise.  A single fund, the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund (EEM) generates some $240 million in revenue per annum for its sponsor.  Ian Salisbury at WSJ goes on to note how lower trading costs have kept EEM on top against its much thriftier competitor the Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock ETF (VWO).  In short, size matters in the ETF industry.  And by industry, we mean industry.

There certainly are benefits to size in the ETF world, but there is a downside as well. Funds that were originally thought to be niche products have in some cases have seen explosive growth.  This growth has put pressure on their ability to produce the returns they set out to generate.  Therefore owning an ETF that invests in gold, commodities, or junk bonds is not the same thing as holding the underlying asset(s).

In some of these cases the ETF industry has tried to take something that is complex and make it seem simple.  Unfortunately something can get lost in the translation.  In addition the issuance of an ETF can change the dynamics of a market, something not always contemplated prior to a fund launch.

That is not to say that being too small in world of ETFs is not a problem as well.  We have written about the risks of so-called orphan or “zombie ETFs” that are too small and illiquid.  One need not look far to see that a broad swath of the ETF industry is potentially on the chopping block.

…ETFs can be a wonderful tool for investors, but ETFs are also a business.  A big business.  If you want to continue playing in the ETF sandbox make sure you know the distinction between a good ETF and a bad ETF.  Because the ETF sponsors are not going to tell you which is which.

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How ETFs Are Like Mortgage-Backed Securities

Via FT Alphaville:

Bedlam Asset Management takes a look at exchange traded funds in its latest market commentary. Specifically, at how — largely because of greed — a sound concept has once again potentially been bastardised by the financial industry.

As Bedlam notes, ETFs started off as a simple and good idea. They were convenient for investors, easy to understand, affordable, the natural successor of earlier market structures  like futures.

But then — unhappy with the ETFs’ solid but low returns — the industry turned to financial rocket scientists to try and beef up the ETF game. Or as Bedlam observes:

Like alcoholics, investment bankers can never have enough, but in the ETF markets they had made a mistake. For the annual management charges and the dealing commissions were set at a low, thus fair, price to make them attractive.

Having established these precedents, it proved hard to raise the profitability for their managers and thus skin the investor. Banks really dislike steady, recurrent low fee income from low-risk products as they can never cover their bloated overheads; so they consulted their rocket scientists.

They invented the ‘Almost as Safe ETF’, but with a much higher fee base. Some started using derivatives and other opaque financial instruments to offer an increase in value twice that of the price gain of the underlying gold or other commodity. These attracted more trading and higher fees too.

The next phase, as Bedlam notes, was similar to the development of asset-backed mortgage securities. The industry thinking appeared to be:

Why not have gold ETFs not backed by gold at all but say by gold shares, with price differences smoothed out through ever-liquid derivatives and hedges?

And the risk (and fees) just kept getting greater:

The ability to play around globally in multiple types of listed paper generated even more commissions; and because these vehicles were far more complex — but still very safe — management fees charged could be higher for enhancing the rise or fall relative to the underlying commodity. The die was cast. As it worked so well, and profitably, for bullion and then hard commodities why not apply it to others such as sugar, cocoa or coffee? Why not to anything not nailed down? So ETFs spread like a virus; the market went fissile. Having dredged most commodities — yes, there are even lean hog ETFs over which you can buy an OTC put — investment bankers took the final leap of taking it back into actual listed companies.

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