SEC To Examine Exchange Traded-Fund Regulation Again

The Securities and Exchange Commission is getting ready to revisit a 2008 rule proposal about exchange-traded funds. In the wake of new issues that have cropped up since then, changes to the original proposal are likely.

Speaking at the Investment Company Institute’s Mutual Fund and Investment Management Conference this week, SEC’s Division of Investment Management associate director Diane Blizzard said that a revised rule would likely address the differences between index and active funds, transparency of underlying and direct instruments, inverse leverage, and creative flexibility within the funds.

Currently, there is no specific timeline for a revised proposal roll out. Since no rule is in place at the moment, the Division of Investment Management is in charge of making individual choices about whether to approve new exchange-traded funds. This SEC division is also looking at enhancing disclosure requirements related to variable annuities, including whether senior investors and those seeking to build their retirement funds are being properly and thoroughly notified of the benefits, complexities and costs.

In other ETF news, Financial Advisor is reporting that the number of hedge fund managers getting involved in this investment space is growing. Although ETF investments can grow the managers’ investor roster, they also may compel the firms to cut their investment management fees. Created as a “passive index-tracking investment,” ETFs are more actively handled and employ short selling, arbitrage, and other alternative strategies. They can be traded like common stuck, which makes exchange-traded fund more accessible and easier to market than actively managed mutual funds. Currently, the SEC is looking at a rule that would let ETF managers reveal their holdings less often than they have to now, which is daily.

Also, US asset managers are using ETFs to make their way into China’s stock market. These funds invest in equities that are listed in that country. The ETFs offer investors in the US the opportunity to get into China’s A–shares, which are the renminbi-denominated shares of companies that were incorporated in China. The shares are traded on the Shenzen and Shanghai exchanges. Before, ETFs involved in the A-shares market could only do so via futures contracts, swaps, and other derivatives.

If you are going to invest in an ETF it is important that you know the risks, benefits, and fees involved. You should also have an understanding of its prospectus, which offers information about the instrument’s goal, main investing strategies, costs, risks, and past performance history.

Investing in Exchange-Traded Funds
Consider whether the ETFs goals are in line with your own objectives and long-term plans. You also want to think about if you can handle the risks should the become reality. How much you have to pay in commissions to a brokerage firm is also important because this will cost you when selling and buying ETF shares. It is also essential that you find out what the other costs are in owning an ETF and explore whether other investments are better suited for you.

If you have sustained ETF fraud losses because of the negligence, wrongdoing, or inexperience of a broker or another financial adviser, please contact our ETF investment fraud law firm today.

Exchange-Traded Funds, Investor Bulletin (PDF)

U.S. exchange-traded funds open up China’s market, Reuters, March 19, 2014

Hedge Funds Entering ETF Space To Lure More Investors, Financial Advisor, March 20, 2014

More Blog Posts:
Stifel, Nicolaus & Century Securities Must Pay More than $1M Over Inverse and Leveraged ETF Sales, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, January 14, 2014

New Hampshire Investment Adviser Focus Capital Wealth Management Accused of Elder Financial Fraud to Pay Exchange Traded Fund Victims $2.4M, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, March 14, 2013
SEC Charges Filed Against Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. and Former Sr. VP David Noack Over CDO Sales to Wisconsin School Districts, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, August 11, 2013