ETF investors bail on the financial sector

<i>Breakfast with Benjamin:</i>Finance-focused ETFs suffer huge outflows. What gives? Plus: Prudential Financial's spooky reinsurance bet, investing in obesity, private lawyers give corporate inversions a leg up, and location matters less when the house you're selling is haunted.
OCT 23, 2014
  • Investors do the math on low interest rates and turn tail on a popular financial sector ETF. More than $900 million pulled from XLF last week to mark the worst stretch since 2009. The prospects are not strong
  • Prudential Financial steps out on a limb by providing reinsurance on a $2.2 billion annuity portfolio at Legal & General Group in the U.K. The spooky part of the bet is that the reinsurance is guarding L&G against the risk that pension beneficiaries live longer than expected. I hate it when that happens. Prudential ran the numbers on longevity risks
  • Savvy investors tap into the obesity epidemic. Let's face it, diet fads are interesting, but the real money is made by betting that people will continue eating at McDonald's. Double down with a healthcare-sector ETF
  • Corporate inversions embrace the latest loophole in the form of government lawyers who go private. Where there is a will and a pile of money to be made, there is a lawyer ready to find the way. The incentive to invert is too tempting to ignore
  • Real estate nightmares: Trying to put a positive spin on a house that is haunted. 'Something looked not quite right'

Latest News

Mesirow acquires part of flexPATH in second retirement deal of 2026
Mesirow acquires part of flexPATH in second retirement deal of 2026

Chicago-based Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions adds flexPATH's plan-level outsourced fiduciary book, boosting its retirement market reach to $164 billion.

Advisor moves: LPL lands $350M veteran advisor duo in Florida
Advisor moves: LPL lands $350M veteran advisor duo in Florida

Also, Raymond James's employee advisor channel adds breakaways from Wells Fargo and Stifel, while UBS welcomes an ex-Morgan Stanley duo in Indiana.

SEC accuses crypto firm founder of running $425 million Ponzi scheme
SEC accuses crypto firm founder of running $425 million Ponzi scheme

It promised guaranteed principal and 10% monthly returns. The SEC says it invested nothing.

MassMutual Ascend tops $2 billion in RIA annuity sales as advisors warm to income products
MassMutual Ascend tops $2 billion in RIA annuity sales as advisors warm to income products

Ten years after entering the fee-based annuity market, MassMutual Ascend says nearly half its lifetime sales came in the past two years alone – but barriers remain among fee-only advisors.

Fintech bytes: Wealth tech firms target advisor productivity with new integrations
Fintech bytes: Wealth tech firms target advisor productivity with new integrations

Amplify, WealthReach, Zeplyn and Zocks have unveiled partnerships aimed at automating portfolio management, content creation, account opening, and client communication.

SPONSORED Direct indexing webinar targets tax-loss harvesting amid market swings

Northern Trust’s Ken Lassner shows advisors how to convert volatility into after-tax portfolio gains

SPONSORED Who builds the income when the pension disappears?

Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income