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Dave Nadig
3:00
Howdy folks, welcome to ETF.com Live!
Sorry we took a few weeks off, but we're back for the foreseeable future.
As always you can enter questions in the box below, and I'll answer as many as I can.  We'll post a full transcript later on this afternoon.  With that, let's get started.
James F.
3:01
Thoughts on Arnott "stepping down"? Seems like an icon
Dave Nadig
3:01
So, background:  Rob Arnott has handed the CEO reigns over to Katrina Sherrerd.
I'll be honest, I thought this had already happened -- Rob is staying on as Chairman, from what I've seen, and I see this as a "soft retirement" more than anything
3:02
RAFI is in Rob's blood.  I can't imagine a world where he would actually step away completely.
It's also worth noting he has just a dream team of high quality talent there
3:03
so if I was a RAFI customer, either directly or through things like the RAFI funds form PowerShares, I would not be worried that there was some sort of brain drain imminent.
But yes: an Icon for sure.
Nemo
3:03
The defined outcome ETFs just launched the first 2 of 12 yesterday. Most of the other etfs are just different quarterly tranches. Is there any reason they did not choose to launch a fund-of-funds that automatically rolls new investments into the appropriate quarter throughout the year?
Dave Nadig
3:03
So, really good question and I don't have a specific answer from the inside of the equation.
3:04
However, I will say in general the options positions here make management a pretty precise thing.
Also, there'd be tax implications in the fund of funds structure (I believe).
In that, if a fund owns another ETF, and then sells that position to buy another for a profit, that's a gain for the shareholders.
3:05
of course, rolling an internal position is also a gain, but I think the way they've done it gives them a bit more control.
Side note (and pre-answering a question I see below) -- I do think these products serve a real niche demand.
A whole passel of advisors has built practices on using options in a smart way to manage risk, these things really just package that up.
3:06
I worry a bit investors will shy away from them because they have options under the hood, which could make them seem "scary" -- when in fact, risk control is the whole point.
Tim Lincoln
3:06
So why were commodities not a poster child for a decade, and why are they coming back?
Dave Nadig
3:06
I'd love to say I think there's a good, investment-thesis related answer, but I honestly think it's just performance chasing.
3:07
Whether its Gold or Oil, investors have really jumped in when commodities have seemed to have real momentum.
Take oil for instance.
3:08
Pull up a chart of USO, and you can see that while it's had a bit of a rebound, it's still just an awful chart.
compare that to, say, what happened 07-08 -- were not even in the ballpark
3:09
so why will they come back now?  Well, a bit of momentum, but I think it's going to be pretty targeted and tarrif dependant.
Take soybeans -- the tarrifs are hitting during a non-harvest period, so the "prices" were seeing deflated aren't real prices.
Now if they hold out for a year - that's real pain
but I think we're in a bit of a holding pattern to see how commodities/tarrifs interact the rest of this year.
Therese
3:10
Hi Dave. What's the magic thing about September per se that is having hte SEC wait til then to decide about all the submitted bitcoin ETFs from issuers?
Dave Nadig
3:10
The SEC is NOTORIOUSLY fickle about dates.  While there are various deadlines written down (we'll give an opinion 60 days after this, etc.) they are all essentially movable at whim.
So I would take even September with a grain of salt.  These cans have a way of being kicked down the road.
3:11
in general though, the SEC likes to wait 60-90 days everytime ANYTHING changes on any of these topics, to provide room for commentary
I know the SEC has a page up now soliciting public opinion on Bitcoin ETFs (don't have the link handy).
J. Tanner
3:11
Is there any  difference between ESG, impact investing and socially responsible funds, or is this one umbrella?
Dave Nadig
3:12
Boy there should be -- they tend to get all lumped together under the "ESG" umbrella but frankly thats a mistake.
Its a bit like saying "anything that's not cap weighted is smart beta" -- its not neccesarily wrong, but it's not neccesarily right either.
Impact Investing has a pretty clear definition -- you're investing in companies that are making a positive change in the world based on some sort of criteria you may have.
3:13
So for instance - just avoiding gun stocks isn't Impact Investing.  Investing in a company that does microfinance to women in Africa?  Impact Investing.
SRI I tend to use for approaches that are literally following the UN Socially Responsible Investing paradimg
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