New Exchange-Traded Products Allow Investors To Switch Among Different Asset Groups
That’s a major shift from the vast majority of exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded notes that offer static exposure to a specific asset class such as stocks, bonds, commodities or futures.
Dynamic exchange-traded products can switch from stocks to cash, for instance, in classic trend-following mode. The idea is to incorporate price trends, volatility and other flexible market conditions within the exchange-traded product structure.
While the overall strategy is not new, offering it through exchange-traded products provides investors the potential for savings in taxes and fees, according to ETF Database.
RBS is a pioneer in this field with its Trendpilot strategy that includes four exchange-traded notes. These products shift between cash and the relevant exposure type depending on the position of a specified benchmark relative to its historical moving average. The current four ETNs follow large caps, mid caps, gold and oil.
Another example is the Barclays ETN+ S&P VEQTOR ETN, which shifts exposure among three asset classes, equities, volatility (through the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index), and cash. The ETN is invested in equities when volatility is low, then shifts allocation toward volatility futures when volatility is high. Cash allocations kick in as a “stop loss” measure.