FYI: Franklin Templeton has a wonky plan to simplify stock and bond allocations.
The San Mateo, California-based asset manager wants to start a new exchange-traded fund that will invest in equities, debt, commodities and currencies -- rather than allocating to one asset class, like more than 99% of U.S. ETFs, regulatory filings show. Instead, managers of the Franklin Liberty Systematic Style Premia ETF will actively evaluate an asset’s characteristics -- its value or momentum, for example -- to determine what to buy.
It’s complicated stuff, and that’s only part of the proposal. While half of the fund’s capital will be used to seek out attractive opportunities regardless of asset class, the other half will follow a long/short equity strategy, weighing a stock’s quality, value and momentum to decide whether to own or bet against it. While some other ETFs do pursue a similar approach, it’s a style far more common among hedge funds.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-01/franklin-templeton-uses-quants-to-build-asset-class-agnostic-etf?srnd=etfs
