Many advisors struggle to navigate the large universe of ETFs and mutual funds because the differences can be difficult to fully realize. Sorting through which offering is the best for a given portfolio has long been an arduous process. However, Nasdaq Dorsey Wright has a great solution in their Fund Score, which distills valuable information into a single score. The Fund Score offers advisors an easy way to gauge fund potential and select funds for clients. By weighting a combination of trend analysis, market strength, and peer relative strength they provide the possibility to edge out additional alpha for clients by selecting the ideal fund.

This fund scoring method has a strong historical track record, for example in the latest materials super cycle. For example, funds with the highest scores in the sector such as the First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund (FXZ) have had some of the highest gains relative to their counterparts, such as the SPDR sector basic materials fund (XLB). In fact, XLB's lack of success correlated with their lowest fund score for the sector. This isn’t disparaging of XLB’s methodology, because their specific fund weights could prove very successful in the future, and FXZ could suffer as a result of their current weighting. Rather it's a testament to the importance of fund scores as a methodology in selection. Breaking down fund performance attributes and integrating fund scores plays a pivotal role in gaining an edge, and Nasdaq Dorsey Wright can help advisors bring that advantage to their clients.

Learn more about Nasdaq Dorsey Wright’s Fund Score

Oil’s slight dip in the last couple of weeks as compared to the last month has puzzled traders because the war in Ukraine is not stalling and global supply gluts still seem elevated. However, this hasn’t stopped Berkshire Hathaway which has bought up even more of Occidental Petroleum. This week alone they acquired $500 million in shares of OXY, this brings their total stake up to a staggering $8.5 billion. Energy performed amazingly in 2021 and commodities continued to boom into 2022, and oil prices were already moving high well before the war which has only limited supply and boosted demand. OXY has benefited from having an impressive earnings season allowing them to outpace many of their peers.

Finsum: Bidens Oil Tax holiday will be an interesting experiment at the pump, we could see monthly demand over-react to the news.

Fixed-income ETF volume is spiking as investors look to funds rather than individual bonds to fill their portfolio needs. The turnover rate spiked to $58 billion which topped the previous record from the start of the pandemic in March 2020. This is a huge signal that a generation of investors who have become familiar with equity ETFs are turning to the same vehicles for their bond market fix.  The most popular funds have been high yield funds such as HYG and JNK which saw $9 billion and $4 billion in trades respectively. Fixed income investors have said that the hyperactive market with daily trading presents an advantage from a price discovery standpoint as compared to individual bonds which might not even see trading on any given day. Undoubtedly, market turmoil is contributing to the high acquisition of bond ETFs.

Finsum: Bond demand is skyrocketing and they are returning to portfolios at a very high rate. 

It would be an understatement to say BlackRock has been a leader in ESG the last couple of years but the tides could be turning. There have been massive outflows from ESG in the month of May which has been unusual given the asset classes' widespread popularity where they topped $3.5 billion. BlackRock has been the main source of outflows from IShares ESG Aware MSCI EM and other popular funds. BlackRock has cut two of iShares most popular funds from seven of their ten models. This is potentially a huge blow, as it could signal the firms changing stance in ESG or it could just be smoke and mirror as asset allocations normally change. ESGs inclusion in many model portfolios has been key to its growing popularity.

Finsum: Are ESG investors really so skittish with the tightening in the economy; the long-term prospects for ESG still seem overwhelming. 

Actively managed exchange-traded funds are seeing an influx of interest as investors are concerned about the escalating market volatility. Active funds are touting their advantages of weathering volatility by making better day-to-day shifts at the portfolio level. One advantage active portfolio managers have is selecting areas where they can have an edge or avoiding places with the most volatility. For instance, tech stocks are down nearly 30% depending on which index you may be looking at. Volatility is expected to continue for the near term as the Fed is projecting another 75 bps hike in the upcoming meeting and a recession is hoving over the economy like a black cloud.

Finsum: Passive ETFs may be contributing to excess volatility according to breaking financial research; it makes sense investors would turn to active funds.