MutualFundWire.com
The insiders' edge for 40 Act industry executives!
an InvestmentWires' Publication
an InvestmentWires' Publication
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MutualFundWire.com
The insiders' edge for 40 Act industry executives!
an InvestmentWires' Publication |
|
Friday, June 2, 2000 What Has Eight Legs And Should Scare Investors? Bruce Johnston, director of mutual fund sales and marketing for Conseco called the MutualFundWire.com offices looking for tickets to Game 6 of the Knick-Pacers series. Apparently, Conseco doesn't have the same pull at Madison Square Garden that they do at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. All kidding aside, once he finished Knick-bashing, Johnston turned to another subject -- "arachnoskeptica," a term which he defines as skepticism of SPDRs and other exchange-traded funds. Part of Johnston's problem with these products is purely semantic. Legally, SPDRs and ETFs are trusts, not funds. "There should be truth in labeling," he said. On a more fundamental level, Johnston believes they're giving investors the wrong mesage. "Mutual funds are the major retirement investment in this country," says Johnston. He believes they are a relatively safe investment that should be bought and held for the long haul. But ETFs, he notes, are priced in real time, and can be bought and sold like stocks throughout the day. They can be bought on margin and sold short. These techniques encourage short-term thinking. "I'm not saying they're good, bad or indifferent. I'm just saying that investors need to be educated about them," said Johnston. Skepticism aside, is Conseco going into the ETF business? "We've certainly discussed it, and we went to the AMEX late last year to talk to them about it," said Johnston. "We decided to wait and see a little bit." Printed from: MFWire.com/story.asp?s=25724 Copyright 2000, InvestmentWires, Inc. All Rights Reserved |