Trillions

Neeeeeeerrrrrrddsss! The term used to be an insult but now it’s (mostly) a compliment. At least that's the case in the world of ETFs, where passions run high for these low-cost, liquid funds. Used by long-term retail investors and institutional traders, there's a wide range of opinion on which Exchange Traded Funds are best, which trends are smart and what the future may hold. On this week’s Trill...

While the rise of ETFs has been good for ETFs, it has come at the expense of many mutual fund managers -- humans who have seen about $1 trillion in outflows over the past four years. The situation has confounded many active fund companies and fueled consolidation in the industry. Now, a prominent active fund advocate and ETF critic says he’s found a better strategy: mutual funds with performance-b...

Ten years ago, the financial crisis changed everything -- and helped create the world we now inhabit. Eric and Joel push rewind to revisit 2008, examine why ETFs managed to take in money that year despite the huge loss in the market, and dissect what's changed in the decade since and what it tells us about the future. Christine Harper, the editor of Bloomberg Markets, who covered banking for Bloom...

This week on Trillions, Joel and Eric record the podcast equivalent of a double-album with Barry Ritholtz, an ETF-using financial advisor as well as a Bloomberg Opinion columnist, host of the Bloomberg podcast "Masters in Business," and overall deep thinker. In addition to ETFs, the trio discusses investing, the economy, the role of the modern financial adviser, tariffs, Trump, and even God. We're...

This week on Trillions, Joel and Eric record the podcast equivalent of a double-album with Barry Ritholtz, an ETF-using financial advisor as well as a Bloomberg Opinion columnist, host of the Bloomberg podcast "Masters in Business," and overall deep thinker. In addition to ETFs, the trio discusses investing, the economy, the role of the modern financial adviser, tariffs, Trump, and even God. We're...

Next week, we’re going long with Barry Ritholtz—a money manager, Bloomberg Opinion columnist, and fellow podcast host. Get ready: We literally couldn't stop talking. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You never go full crypto, right? Yet clearly some in the ETF industry see a massive opportunity, hence the steady talent trickle to the nascent space. To date, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has received more than 25 filings for ETFs featuring Bitcoin. They're effectively the participants in a Cannonball Run-esque race to gain the SEC's approval -- and whoever earns that blessing and...

What is the best ETF for the long-term? How important is index selection? Is there a pot ETF? Can you get private equity exposure through an ETF? These are just some of the questions that Joel and Eric attempt to answer in this episode of Trillions where they dig into the proverbial "mailbag" of questions from listeners on various platforms.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trade tensions and tariffs are a new variable for investors. How should investors differentiate between noise and reality? Should they adjust their portfolio? What ETFs can be used? Joel and Eric are joined by reporter Sarah Ponczek and advisor John Davi to discuss. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No one person has had a bigger impact on the fund industry than Vanguard founder Jack Bogle, the legendary investor who invented indexing and popularized low-fee mutual funds. One of Vanguard's biggest advantages: Its mutual fund ownership structure, which is an original Bogle breakthrough. Bogle now thinks other firms will have to follow suit to survive in the future -- one of a few topics he pla...

ETF flows are one of the best ways to get inside the mind of investors. They tell you which asset classes, sectors, strategies and specific ETFs both traders and long-term investors are favoring. But interpreting flows is as much art as science. On this week’s Trillions, Joel and Eric are joined by Todd Rosenbluth of CFRA to dissect ETF inflows and outflows from the first half of what is at once b...

There are over 120 U.S. ETF issuers, but only one has more than $1 trillion in assets, over 300 products and knows what it is like to beat Vanguard: BlackRock. The asset manager made the equivalent of the Louisiana Purchase when it acquired iShares from Barclays in 2009, a move that has made them the most dominant player in the industry. Joel and Eric interview Martin Small, head of U.S. iShares,...

In this special report, Rachel Evans interviews Hal Lambert, the creator of the MAGA ETF, to learn how he turned his idea for the fund into a reality. The episode examines his strategy—buying companies that donate to the Republican Party—how this contrasts with other values-based products, and whether ads on conservative talk shows will translate into investor dollars.  See omnystudio.com/listener...

It’s a big, expensive, global mystery. Why do women still make less money—a lot less—than men? In the US, the average woman makes 80 cents to every dollar a man makes. Launching May 9, the Pay Check is an in-depth investigation into what that 20 percent difference looks like. In this miniseries we'll show you how the gender pay gap plays out in real life. We'll hear from Lily Ledbetter, Mo’Nique,...

Are ETFs turning mom and pop into maniacal day traders? Are investors using the right type of trade orders? This week, Joel and Eric speak with Matt Gouletof Fidelity, whose platform serves 9 million households, to discuss insights about retail investors’ ETF usage as well as stories about the active fund giant's foray into the ETF world and attempt to out-Vanguard Vanguard. And where is the covet...

Smart-beta is one of the hottest trends in not just ETFs but all of investment management. Assets in the category have grown from $0 to almost $1 trillion in barely a decade. But what is it, exactly?    On this week’s Trillions, Joel and Eric explore the mysteries of smart-beta. To some, it's all a mutation of passive indexing; to others, it's a better, cheaper version of active management. "Imagi...

While the very largest ETFs attract the bulk of flows, a few smaller products manage to beat the odds and emerge from obscurity each year to capture investors' imagination and assets. Over the past year, growth in robotics, the Internet and China have led to outsized investments into smaller ETFs.    On this week's Trillions, Joel and Eric highlight and analyze up-and-comer ETFs of the past, prese...

Tickers are special. Not only can they catch our eye, they also tell a story. Some ETF tickers are especially great -- take MOO, for instance, or TAN. But with hundreds of them cluttering the stock market, you sort of have to wonder: Which ETF ticker is the very best? On this episode of Trillions, Joel and Eric harness the spirit of March Madness with a team of Bloomberg News reporters and create...

What happens when ETF nerds/Radiohead superfans take over the podcast? You get the Radiohead Guide to Good ETF Investing. Trillions goes full prog rock this week as Joel and Eric are joined by Bloomberg reporter Rachel Evans for a dive into the band's ground-breaking catalog and the hidden ETF Investing advice contained in it.    Does your ETF portfolio put Everything in Its Right Place or is it f...

The last few weeks have reminded investors that the market can go down as well as up (who knew?). Hedging can help protect a portfolio, and ETFs can help with that cause, but you're effectively picking your poison; some limit the potency of the hedge, others carry unforeseen costs. Joel and Eric sit down with self-described “ETF nerd” Michael Venuto of Toroso Investments to discuss the pros and co...

This month, Bloomberg is excited to bring you a brand new show. Every Friday on What'd You Miss This Week, we'll feature the most interesting interviews from Bloomberg's daily market close show, "What'd You Miss" hosted by Scarlet Fu, Julia Chatterley and Joe Weisenthal. We want to take you beyond the headlines and bring you a unique perspective on the week's top stories, and those you may just ha...

Movies get ratings, so why not ETFs? After all, there are more than 2,100 ETFs, with one new one launching every day, that provide exposure to every asset class, sector, region, country, commodity, currency, factor, theme, derivative and strategy that you can think of, as well as some you’ve never heard of. While most are “plain vanilla,” many come with twists, and some are downright dangerous car...

What do you get when you cross ComiCon, the Catalina Wine Mixer and low-cost passive investing? You get "Inside ETFs," the world's largest ETF conference, which is getting bigger and more colorful by the year, in no small part to the growing mountain of flows coming into ETFs each year.    The event – which has grown from 450 people to 2,400 in eleven years featured panels, presentations and booth...

On the fourth episode of Trillions, we get a first-hand look at how a professional builds ETF portfolios that work for different types of investors with varied goals. We look at how ETFs are chosen and assembled as well as the psychological methods Betterment uses to keep investor eyes on the prize, and not the market.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What questions should you ask about an ETF before you make an investment? What about when two or three ETFs seem practically the same? In this episode, Todd Rosenbluth, a mutual fund and ETF analyst with CFRA, joins the podcast to discuss his due diligence checklist. This is a topic that can get weedy in a hurry; if you're new to ETFs, just think of it like you're looking under the hood of a car....