FYI: The $2 trillion market for U.S. exchange-traded funds is growing more opaque even as regulators warn the asset class is already too complicated for some investors.
Eaton Vance Corp. began offering a new type of ETF on Friday -- called Eaton Vance Stock NextShares -- that only reveals its underlying assets monthly, rather than the daily disclosure that’s common in the rest of the industry. Soon, that lag will get longer, as other fund issuers plan ETFs that discuss holdings only every quarter.
Separately, investors can now trade ETFs privately, outside the view of regulators, on Tradeweb Markets.
The ETF market has exploded in size, jumping 2 1/2 times in value since the end of 2009. Even before these Eaton Vance and Tradeweb innovations, U.S. officials were already worried the business lacks sufficient transparency. Cracks in the system were revealed on Aug. 24, when many equities didn’t open for trading, yet the ETFs that hold them did, causing confusion among investors about their value.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-26/the-jungle-of-the-2-trillion-etf-market-is-getting-even-denser
