ETFs

Most municipal bond exchange-traded funds in the fourth quarter performed noticeably worse than the indexes they were designed to track. Or, depending on your perspective, they performed noticeably better.

In an effort to develop jumpstart its exchange-traded fund business, Russell Investments announced Wednesday it plans to buy U.S. One Inc., a registered investment advisor and ETF provider.

Assets held in domestic exchange-traded funds increased 28% last year to $994.7 billion.

Vanguard, BlackRock, Schwab and State Street are deadlocked in a fierce price competition.

Assets held in exchange-traded funds reached $994.5 billion by the end of 2010, according to data compiled by the National Stock Exchange. That is up 27.1%, compared to a year earlier

The two exchange-traded funds will seek to match the performance of VIX futures indexes.

In the first 11 months of 2010, assets held in exchange-traded funds increased 19.4%, according to Investment Company Institute figures. In the last 11 months of 2010, assets grew 56.9%.

Exchange-traded funds have made for some ugly headlines. They played an integral role in the May 6 flash crash, and more recently a controversy erupted over whether prices could crash on heavily shorted ETFs. Though many consider those fears unfounded, these increasingly popular investments nonetheless pose risks, and financial advisers should be cautious.

Q&A with BNY Mellon Managing Director, Global Financial Institutions Joseph Keenan

ETF assets reach $887.2 billion.

Deutsche Bank launched two ETFs for values based investors this week. Both will directly invest in a portfolio of securities, rather than rely on swaps, or “synthetic” index replication.

In conjunction, ProShares is launching a marketing campaign with the tagline, “The Alternative ETF Company.”

A London-based pioneer in commodity exchange-traded funds has quickly made a splash in the United States, and plans to become a force here.

The story in the municipal bond market this month has been bleak. The story in the municipal bond exchange-traded fund ­market has been even bleaker.

Grail Partners’ chairman likens the future role of ETFs to the advent of personal computers.

Investors poured over $26.8 billion into long-term mutual funds in October, nearly twice the assets added in September, Morningstar reported on Wednesday.

Charles Schwab announced on Tuesday that ETF assets exceeded $100 billion, in part because of the success of Schwab’s own ETF products.

Assets in U.S. exchange-traded funds rose to $924.9 billion as of October 31 - its highest level on record - up $39.9 billion or 4.5% during the month.

While many investors like the flexibility that the products offer, many still don't understand the product.

And emerging market exchange-traded funds will grow in tandem.