Ryan Issakainen is joined by Scott Friske, head of new product development at First Trust for a discussion about where great ideas come from and where the next generation of investment products is headed

Over the past century, a complex system of poles, wires, substations, and transformers was developed to enable large power plants to deliver electricity to households and businesses. For power grids to meet changing energy demands over the next few decades, including a larger share of renewable energy production and rising demand for electricity, we believe massive capital investments will be required. While renewable energy developers have faced significant challenges this year, we believe companies involved in expanding and modernizing the power grid offer a compelling long-term opportunity for investors. We discuss recent trends that may impact this theme, as well as the First Trust NASDAQ® Clean Edge® Smart Grid Infrastructure Index Fund (GRID).

Click Here to continue reading.

• Net inflows for US-listed ETFs totaled $36.1 billion in October, bringing total ETF assets under management to $6.91 trillion.
   
• Equity ETFs had net inflows totaling $20.8 billion in October, bringing trailing 12-months (TTM) net inflows to $281.6 billion. Active equity ETFs accounted for $9.9 billion in net inflows in October, compared to $10.9 billion in net inflows for passive equity ETFs. Total AUM in actively managed equity ETFs were $264.4 billion, accounting for 4.9% of all equity ETF assets ($5.36 trillion), as of 10/31/23. 
  
  
• Fixed income ETFs had net inflows totaling $16.1 billion in October, bringing TTM net inflows to $193.0 billion. Active fixed income ETFs accounted for $5.5 billion in net inflows in October, compared to $10.6 billion in net inflows for passive fixed income ETFs. Total AUM in actively managed fixed income ETFs were $161.1 billion, accounting for 11.5% of all fixed income ETF assets ($1.40 trillion), as of 10/31/23. 
  
  
• Commodities ETFs had net outflows totaling $0.9 billion in October, bringing TTM net outflows to $12.4 billion. Precious metals ETFs (-$1.6 billion) was the weakest commodity sub-category in October. 

To continue reading, click here.

In this episode, Ryan is joined by Jim Bowen, CEO of First Trust, for a discussion about the importance of intellectual freedom, service to others, and challenging the narrative...all key hallmarks of the firm he’s led for over 30 years.

How fast the world can change. Not long ago, in a world of extremely low and even negative interest rates around the globe, stocks flourished as investors claimed “there is no alternative” (the “TINA” acronym) to equities. Investors justified large equity overweights and applauded higher profits but ignored ever increasing valuations as stocks rose much more rapidly than those profits. It worked well. The Federal Reserve (“Fed”) funds rate started 2019 at 2.50% and ended 2021 at 0.25%. Stock prices as measured by the S&P 500 Index rose 100% during those three years.

Click here to read entire piece.

In the third quarter of 2023, Alternative Investments ("Alternatives") were a haven of performance against a backdrop of negative returns for traditional assets, U.S. Treasuries, and global equities, in particular. Over the prior three quarters, there seemed to be hope of an economic “soft landing” or “no landing” as opposed to a significant recession. This sentiment was reflected in a consistent and strong bid for equities and other risk assets. Concurrently, there were also a growing number of voices expressing that despite a deeply inverted yield curve, declining Federal Reserve (the “Fed”) balance sheet and other indicators of tightening credit, this was not the 1970s when the economy cycled between inflation blooms and recession busts; this inflation cycle would be different. While the end game has yet to be played, during the third quarter, the capital markets started to reflect a deeper concern that perhaps things are not that different than the inflationary decade of the 1970s, and a bit of risk aversion might be prudent.  

To view the entire article, click here.

While we wait around for the most anticipated recession in history, one thing seems clear to us. Only one size segment of the U.S. market has priced in any sort of recession, small capitalization stocks (small caps). As measured by the S&P SmallCap 600® Index, small caps peaked in early November 2021. Large caps (measured by the S&P 500® Index) did not peak until the first trading day of 2022. From their peak on November 8, 2021, the S&P SmallCap 600® Index has lost 19.0% on a total return basis versus a loss of just 6.0% for the S&P 500® Index. Since the S&P 500® Index peaked on January 3, 2022, small caps have also lagged large caps (-16.4% vs -8.0%).

Click here to continue reading.

• Net inflows for US-listed ETFs totaled $36.2 billion in September, bringing total ETF assets under management to $7.10 trillion. 
• Equity ETFs had net inflows totaling $28.1 billion in September, bringing trailing 12-months (TTM) net inflows to $323.2 billion. Active equity ETFs accounted for $7.8 billion in net inflows in September, compared to $20.4 billion in net inflows for passive equity ETFs. Total AUM in actively managed equity ETFs were $265.8 billion, accounting for 4.8% of all equity ETF assets ($5.55 trillion), as of 9/30/23. 
• Fixed income ETFs had net inflows totaling $9.5 billion in September, bringing TTM net inflows to $208.9 billion. Active fixed income ETFs accounted for $2.3 billion in net inflows in September, compared to $7.2 billion in net inflows for passive fixed income ETFs. Total AUM in actively managed fixed income ETFs were $156.8 billion, accounting for 11.2% of all fixed income ETF assets ($1.40 trillion), as of 9/30/23. 
• Commodities ETFs had net outflows totaling $1.7 billion in September, bringing TTM net outflows to $14.4 billion. Precious metals ETFs (-$2.1 billion) was the weakest commodity sub-category in September. 

To continue reading, click here.