The two largest exchange traded fund (ETF) providers, Barclays and State Street, appear leery to practice fundamental indexing. Both have come out with ETFs that are weighted based on the highest yielding stocks within a certain index- not market capitalization, so they haven’t completely ignored the concept, writes David Hoffman of InvestmentNews.
If Barclays or SSgA ever decide to commit to fundamental indexing, that could spell trouble for companies such as PowerShares and WisdomTree. It isn’t clear whether the two ever will make a strong commitment to fundamental indexing. To a large extent, the strength of their commitment depends on the success of ETFs that track fundamental indexes. When you look at overall assets,the jury is still out on whether there is a true demand for ETFs that provide fundamental indexing.
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