In this uncertain rate environment, how do you navigate your investment strategies? Do you look for additional yield or lower risk? Do you look for government-backed securities or turn to gold? How do Dividends and Fixed Income strategies play into your investment approach? Join leading ETP expert Deborah Fuhr, Partner and Co-founder of ETFGI, and David Krein, Head of Index Research at NASDAQ OMX, as they discuss how investors are dealing with the potential rate changes, and provide the latest research on fund flows.

Watch the webcast here.

By David Fabian, NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes Contributor

It has been quite a ride in both the stock and bond markets as the Federal Reserve reiterated its zero interest rate policy and bond buying programs through mid-2014. This announcement and subsequent Q&A session with Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke sent stocks, bonds, and commodities downward as investors reacted to the fears of rising interest rates.  In fact, there was virtually nowhere to hide for income investors as just about every yield producing asset class was bathed in red ink and the 10-Year Treasury Yield Index ($TNX) spiked to new year-to-date highs of 2.4% on Thursday. 

Investors that had been used to conservative returns and low volatility are starting to get nervous about the prospects for their income generating assets moving forward.  That data is confirmed by asset flows from Index Universe which list the iShares TIPS Bond Fund (TIP), iShares Investment Grade Bond Fund (LQD), SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond Fund (JNK), and iShares High Yield Bond Fund (HYG) as four of their top 10 ETFs for asset redemptions in 2013. 

Read the entire article here.

NASDAQ OMX and Accretive Asset Management have partnered to co-brand the innovative BulletShares^® Corporate Bond Index family and work jointly to promote these indexes around the world.

The BulletShares Corporate Bond Indexes are the world’s first target-maturity corporate bond indexes. Now called “NASDAQ BulletShares Indexes,” these benchmarks represent the performance of an investment in a diversified, held-to-maturity portfolio of fixed income securities with a common year of maturity. Accretive Asset Management developed the methodology in 2009 with the objective of combining the benefits of individual bonds and bond funds.

NASDAQ BulletShares Corporate Bond Indexes offer a precise way to get the benefit of individual bonds combined with the benefit of funds. Instead of a single bond, these indexes offer exposure to a broad range of investment-grade corporate bonds, which allows for a more diversified approach. Read more about the benefits.

We’re excited to add this family to our fixed income portfolio and offer our customers a broader selection of innovative index solutions. Stay tuned for additional research and announcements!

Effective June 27, 2013, the Financial Industry Regulation Authority (FINRA) will designate the NASDAQ Global Large Mid Cap Index to serve as an additional index for purposes of calculating position limits on conventional equity options overlying foreign securities, subject to the volume and float criteria outlined by FINRA in Rule 2360. FINRA determined that the designation of this additional index is consistent with the designation of the currently utilized FTSE All-World Index in that the indexes are of similar geographic dispersion and composition including market capitalization sectors of large and mid-cap companies. The NASDAQ Global Large Mid Cap Index is a free-float adjusted market capitalization weighted index designed to include 90 percent of the investable public equity in certain developed and emerging countries, subject to a semi-annual rebalancing schedule.

For more information, refer to the FINRA Regulatory Notice, contact NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes at +1 301 978 8284 or contact NASDAQ OMX Transaction Services U.S. - Derivatives at +1 800 846 0477 (Option #2).

Are you a pension consultant looking for a viable alternative to the expensive, well-known industry benchmarks? What if you could provide a new way of saving your clients money without sacrificing reliability and accuracy? We’ve been talking to managers and custodians across the globe and the sentiment is the same — show us some lower cost alternatives that we can trust and help bring fee transparency to investors.

We have done just that. We’ve used our world-renown INET technology to make our reliable, objective and transparent indexes more affordable. Check out our NASDAQ Global Index Family, NASDAQ Dividend and Income Family and the NASDAQ Commodity Index Family and see how they compare to industry incumbents.

Click here for more information specifically for Pension Consultants and learn how NASDAQ OMX is yet again using cutting-edge technology to offer high-quality, lower-cost solutions that are reshaping the market.

NASDAQ OMX will launch an additional four Canadian currency Dividend Achiever indexes on Wednesday, June 19th. These indexes will be calculated in Canadian dollars and will access Canadian currency denominated dividend-pairing stocks. The new Canadian Dividend Achievers are:

• NASDAQ U.S. Dividend Achievers Select Currency Hedged CAD Index (DVGCADH)
• NASDAQ U.S. Dividend Achievers Select Currency Hedged CAD Total Return Index (DVGTCADH)
• NASDAQ U.S. Dividend Achievers Select CAD Index (DVGCAD)
• NASDAQ U.S. Dividend Achievers Select CAD Total Return Index (DVGCADTR)

The new indexes were created off of the Dividend Achievers Select (DVG) index and are a part of the Dividend Achievers, a group of indexes tracking companies with at least 10 years of consecutive dividend growth. The Dividend Achievers are a part of the NASDAQ Dividend and Income Family.

All Factset clients now have access to the NASDAQ Global Index Family, covering 98% of the investible equity marketplace in large-, mid-, and small-cap stocks across Developed and Emerging markets.

From now until August 31, 2013, all Factset customers have access to this data for FREE.

“FactSet is pleased to add the NASDAQ Global Index family to our Global Indexing and Benchmark offering,” says Patrick Locke, Vice President, Database Development, FactSet. “This release combines NASDAQ OMX’s Global sector, benchmark and tradable indexes with FactSet’s analytical tools to let clients benchmark and track a broad representation of the global investable marketplace.” Contact us for more information.

By: David Fabian, Special NASDAQ OMX Global Index Watch Contributor

The first low volatility exchange-traded fund was released in 2011 as the PowerShares S&P 500 Low Volatility Portfolio (SPLV). This ETF quickly garnered billions of dollars in assets as investors sought to diversify their portfolios with a unique equity index strategy that is designed to select stocks with lower price fluctuations. The success of this product quickly led to additional offerings from both PowerShares and iShares in emerging market, international, global, and small/mid-cap stocks.  

The basis behind the strategy for these funds is to take the underlying S&P or MSCI indexes and identify a subset of stocks (typically 80-200) that have the lowest price volatility for the last quarter. What you are left with is a unique portfolio of equities that typically have very steady returns and stable price movement. The make-up of low volatility funds is commonly focused in the areas of consumer staples, utilities, financial, and health care sectors. One additional benefit to a concentrated mix of stocks in these defensive sectors is the above average yield. However, the asset allocation can vary depending on the region or market capitalization of the underlying index.

Read the entire article here.