With the highest fee of this specialized class and middling assets under management, we see no compelling reason to purchase this fund over Market Vectors Uranium+Nuclear Energy ETF NLR. This portfolio has an extremely narrow focus. Expansion into alternative energy may not mean expansion
The opaque Intellidex model may not actually produce better risk-adjusted returns.The fund's fee is far too high for U.S. equity exposure. In almost every country studied, stocks that are cheaper by measures such as price/earnings and price/book ratios have outperformed more-expensive growth
The fund's 0.48% expense ratio is higher than similar offerings that focus specifically on either international or domestic utilities. Blending two of those funds together may be a better option.Because utilities typically carry a lot of debt and focus on capital-intensive projects, a global credit
Periods of very high global market uncertainty (such as an escalating eurozone crisis) tend to have an outsized negative impact on emerging markets.Slowing growth in the developed markets will temper growth in the emerging markets, many of which are very export-oriented.While this fund has
The fund's 0.47% expense ratio is the highest among the market-cap-weighted utilities ETFs. Given the high level of portfolio similarity within the space, we wouldn't choose IDU over its peers.IDU is the smallest of the marquee name offerings in its peer group.Portfolio-construction rules are
Emerging-markets equities are very volatile, with standard deviations about 50%-60% higher than U.S. and developed-markets equities. Periods of very high global market uncertainty (such as an escalating eurozone crisis) tend to have an outsized negative impact on emerging markets.Slowing growth in
When large-cap utilities are cheap, Utilities Select Sector SPDR is a good way to play them.
This fund costs too much and will likely consume much of its alpha beyond its value exposure.This strategy is inappropriate for investors who can't stomach large deviations from the market.This strategy is a rarity: a diversifier with no correlation to stocks, bonds, and commodities, and positive
Exports account for almost half of South Korea's GDP. Slowing global growth will likely weigh on corporate Korea's growth in the near term. This fund's heavy export and cyclical orientation makes it one of the most volatile ETFs in the Asian region.Samsung Electronics accounts for almost 15% of
Value and size tilting are increasingly popular, possibly reducing their profitability.Alternatives are much cheaper.The fund's size and value tilt increases its expected returns.Fundamental indexing has added a modest amount of alpha in most markets examined and may continue to do so. The