Each week ETF Trends publishes news, commentary and strategist stories surrounding the world of ETFs.

Here’s a look at the Top 5 Strategist Stories of the Week for April 11-15, 2016:

1. The Practice Management Game of Behavioral Finance

Market volatility not only creates an environment rife with behavioral errors, it can also rob even the best financial advisors of productivity and limit their business potential.

After decades of working with financial advisors, I have found that during times of downside volatility, advisors typically report lower year over year production as new business slows to a crawl. The start of 2016 is no different. Read more >>

2. For ETF Strategists, Being Tactical is Not Like Being Pregnant

There is an old binary adage which states “you can’t be just a little bit pregnant.”  With pregnancy you either are or you are not. Such is the case with many ETF strategists and the way in which they are categorized, followed, or hired.

Many platforms and reporting agencies categorize ETF strategists as either “strategic” or “tactical.” In fact, for some in our space, the choice is one that is so important it has become like politics or religion. Read more >>

3. Has Crude Oil Truly Bottomed or Just in the Midst of a Dead Cat Bounce?

In Pinnacle Advisory Group’s previous ETF Strategist article, Rick Vollaro highlighted the synchronous moves between the oil markets and other risk assets including the S&P 500 (SPY) and High Yield (JNK).

He wrote that it would be wise to watch oil markets since one’s oil outlook would be equivalent to an outlook on the other aforementioned asset classes. For us, this is one of the reasons for a slightly cautious stance on risk assets as we feel the recent move higher in oil prices is not justified based on current fundamentals. Read more >>

4. Picking the Right Club for the Next Shot in ETFs

Recently I heard an interview with retired professional golfer Jack Nicklaus. He talked about how technological advances in golf equipment has made a positive difference for today’s players.

After purchasing a new driver, my slice off the tee remained. Clearly, better equipment and tools in the hands of golf experts has the potential to add distance and accuracy. This same equipment in the hands of an occasional golfer makes less difference.

Advances in investment tools in the form of ETFs is a “game changer,” with the potential to add distance and accuracy to investment returns. Read more >>

5. Do Emerging Markets Equities Still Make Sense in a Diversified Portfolio?

Much attention has recently been given to the relative underperformance of Emerging Markets (EM) stocks.

Indeed, EM equities have lagged the S&P 500 Index (domestic) in six of the past eight years by a fairly wide margin. Many investors now question if a strategic EM equity allocation still makes sense in a diversified portfolio as a result. Read more >>

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