International equities in both developed and emerging markets have also attracted a lot of attention and are expected to continue to gather greater inflows as investors look to relatively more attractive markets in light of an ongoing bull rally in U.S. equities that has pushed valuations to historical highs. More advisors and money managers have turned to international stocks as a way to diversify away from domestic markets and potentially capture greater returns in foreign markets.
For instance, we are witnessing an escalating ETF fee war that has pushed expense ratios closer and closer to zero, which ultimately helps the end investor. The rising popularity of the ETF investment vehicle has helped many fund providers accumulate greater assets under management to the point where it has become economical to utilize larger scale and cut fees to attract even more investment interest.
Related: 5 ETFs Hauled in a Lot of Cash in August
Joe Davis, Vanguard’s global chief economist and head of the Investment Strategy Group (pictured above), discussed economic and investment trends and the implications for the economy and the markets.
He spoke about how U.S. and global economies will undergo a dramatic transformation as several large global forces take hold.
Johnson said he personally enjoyed Joe Davis’ opening keynote.
“He painted a very optimistic picture of our future and the progress we can make towards greater and more widespread prosperity by learning to love and leverage technology and the process of lifelong learning,” Johnson said.
For more information on the ETF industry, visit our current affairs category.