iShares

Managers are asking the SEC to relax constraints it imposed on the funds as they become the fastest growing products for investing in equities.

These investments offered better returns than the broader fixed-income world in recent years, but the risk/reward equation leans heavier on risk.

The holdings in each of the three new offerings are rated A to BBB.

The U.S. Private Equity Access Fund Platform includes 33 offerings and more than 7,000 domestic and international investors.

All posted positive returns over five years, but active saw the largest outflows.

The iShares fund reported $4.36 billion in new money as yield rose and the Federal Reserve prepares to shrink its balance sheet.

These funds can affordably provide clients with REIT exposure.

With damage from hurricanes Harvey and Irma clocking in at more than $150 billion, will funds with high exposure to property and casualty insurance take a hit?

The pension fund wants to outsource some or all of its $26.2 billion in private equity investments with the money manager, people close to the matter said.

In addition to launching new smart beta funds, the firm may look to expand into “a whole host of different asset classes,” according to one executive.

No performance chasers here; these investors buy on the downside.

New bond ETFs from the firm use alternative weightings to chase "superior risk adjusted and total returns” compared with market-cap weighted products.

There wasn’t a lot of diversification among the top funds as technology has dominated the market gains in recent years.

For clients looking for investment income, these funds excelled in the first half of 2017.

Aside from stocks, strong and consistent trends have been hard to come by this year.

Actively managed funds saw the majority of the largest outflows this year as investors flocked to less expensive passive alternatives.

Passive investments garnered most of the investor cash so far in 2017, but beyond that it was a wide net: S&P 500, small cap, emerging markets, fixed income — anything that could be structured as an ETF.

Small-caps carry risk, but they don’t have to be expensive too. Here are 20 with the best returns over the past five years and the lowest expense ratios.

Studies show smart beta beating their benchmarks more than active managers.

Clients may become mesmerized by dazzling short-term returns, so consider pushing solid growth on the cheap.