In the sharply competitive exchange-traded fund arena, fund providers have been relentlessly driving down fees in a bid to undercut one another on price.
And though experts acknowledge that a cost comparison must be a principal consideration in selecting a fund, it isn’t the only determining factor.
CLS Investments, a third-party money manager focused on ETFs in Omaha, Nebraska, just rolled out a suite of bundled ETF products that aim to pair returns with a client’s risk profile, offering exposure to smart-beta and active funds, as well as small positions in more niche offerings.
The firm undertakes what it calls a risk budgeting process that involves both a questionnaire to evaluate a client’s risk tolerance, as well as an evaluation of the risk characteristics of a given ETF, says Grant Engelbart, portfolio manager at CLS Investments.