ishares

Following up on a strong 2011 that saw $50.2 billion in dividend increases, according to Standard & Poor's data, dividend increases surged to a record $24.2 billion in the first quarter of 2012, a year-over-year increase of almost 28% and the good times haven't stopped there. As one example, in...

Over time, the exchange-traded products industry has continually brought new products to market that have increasingly narrow exposures. Call them niche funds, call them too narrow, but whatever one's opinion is, there's no getting around the fact niche funds are a last frontier of sorts for ETF...

Institutional investors, including public pension funds, foundations and endowments, are increasing their use of ETFs, according to a new study by Greenwich Associates. The study is in its third year and is sponsored by BlackRock's (NYSE: BLK) iShares, the world's largest ETF issuer. Seventy-eight...

The new National Exchange Traded Funds Association, or NEFTA, will be without the exchange-traded products universe's heaviest hitters as it starts life as the industry's first trade association. BlackRock's (NYSE: BLK) iShares, State Street's (NYSE: STT) State Street Global Advisors and Vanguard...

As the exchange-traded products industry has continued to boom (there are now almost 1,460 ETFs and ETNs listed in the U.S. with over $1.2 trillion in AUM), the number of so-called style funds has surged as well. By definition, a style ETF is one that focuses on value or growth stocks, large-, mid...

In a note published on Monday April, Russ Koesterich, iShares Global Chief Investment Strategist, reiterated his view that income investors should consider emerging markets bonds for their fixed income portfolios. Last week, Koesterich said yield-starved investors are faced with a catch-22: "Accept...

It's the epitome of a catch-22: ETFs tracking non-investment grade bonds, also known as junk bonds, have become enormously popular with investors because of their robust yields. In this era of depressed interest rates, who could blame an income investor for entertaining the idea of taking one some...

In the BRIC acronym, India is the third letter. When it comes to number of ETFs offering exposure to each BRIC nation, India also places third. With about 110 exchange-traded products offering exposure to India, the country has more ETFs and ETNs tracking it than Russia has, but India falls just...

In a recent blog post iShares' Russ Koesterich said yield-starved investors are faced with a catch-22: "Accept lower income or take on additional risk to generate incremental yield." Emphasizing that investors must assess their individual objectives and risk tolerance levels, Koesterich said he...

By far the most prolific issuer of new ETFs in 2012, BlackRock's (NYSE: BLK) iShares unit, the world's largest ETF sponsor, will introduce another new bond ETF on Thursday when the iShares Emerging Markets Corporate Bond Fund (BATS: CEMB) debuts. The iShares Emerging markets Corporate Bond Fund...