Latest news with #iSharesETF
The Star
16-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Institutional investors juggle bitcoin ETF holdings, US filings show
FILE PHOTO: The seal of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seen at their headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 12, 2021. Picture taken May 12, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/ File Photo (Reuters) -A number of high-profile asset managers cut their stakes in spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds amid a 12% drop in the cryptocurrency's price in the first quarter of 2025, according to recent regulatory filings. This marks a shift from previous quarters when asset managers had typically increased their holdings in spot bitcoin ETFs, as shown in previous quarterly 13-F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Spot bitcoin ETFs, which made their market debut in January 2024, now paint a more complex picture. Hedge funds trimmed their holdings while some financial advisory firms and wealth funds boosted or rebalanced their positions. "What we witnessed in the first quarter was the collapse of the premium that people were paying for bitcoin futures, which had set up a very lucrative basis trade," said Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of Bitwise Asset Manager. Hedge funds seeking to profit from the spread between spot and futures prices could capture annualized yields in the region of 15%, Hougan said. "But that premium collapsed and reached its nadir around the end of March," he said. "So I'm not surprised to see hedge funds trim their holdings." Millennium Management LLC cut its holdings of iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF by 41% to 17.6 million shares and exited its position in the Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF. It increased its stake in only two ETFs, boosting its holdings of the ARK 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF and the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust. Jersey-based Brevan Howard trimmed its stake in the iShares ETF by 15.6%. The State of Wisconsin Investment Board, one of the earliest institutional investors to make a significant allocation to spot bitcoin ETFs in the first quarter of 2024, sold its entire six million share position in the iShares Bitcoin Trust in the first three months of this year. Meanwhile, Brown University made its first foray into cryptocurrency ETF ownership during the same period, acquiring a stake in the same ETF, worth $4.9 million at the end of March. Neither the state pension fund nor representatives from Brown University responded to requests for comment on their moves. Abu Dhabi's Mubadala sovereign wealth fund added to its holdings of the iShares ETF in the first quarter, bringing its total position to 8,726,972 shares, valued at $408.5 million. "What will be most important for me is whether, when all the data is finally in and we can analyze it, more investment advisory firms are stepping in," said Hougan. "That wave of adoption may be a slow-moving train, but it has forward momentum." (Reporting by Suzanne McGee; editing by Diane Craft)
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Institutional investors juggle bitcoin ETF holdings, US filings show
By Suzanne McGee (Reuters) -A number of high-profile asset managers cut their stakes in spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds amid a 12% drop in the cryptocurrency's price in the first quarter of 2025, according to recent regulatory filings. This marks a shift from previous quarters when asset managers had typically increased their holdings in spot bitcoin ETFs, as shown in previous quarterly 13-F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Spot bitcoin ETFs, which made their market debut in January 2024, now paint a more complex picture. Hedge funds trimmed their holdings while some financial advisory firms and wealth funds boosted or rebalanced their positions. "What we witnessed in the first quarter was the collapse of the premium that people were paying for bitcoin futures, which had set up a very lucrative basis trade," said Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of Bitwise Asset Manager. Hedge funds seeking to profit from the spread between spot and futures prices could capture annualized yields in the region of 15%, Hougan said. "But that premium collapsed and reached its nadir around the end of March," he said. "So I'm not surprised to see hedge funds trim their holdings." Millennium Management LLC cut its holdings of iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF by 41% to 17.6 million shares and exited its position in the Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF. It increased its stake in only two ETFs, boosting its holdings of the ARK 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF and the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust. Jersey-based Brevan Howard trimmed its stake in the iShares ETF by 15.6%. The State of Wisconsin Investment Board, one of the earliest institutional investors to make a significant allocation to spot bitcoin ETFs in the first quarter of 2024, sold its entire six million share position in the iShares Bitcoin Trust in the first three months of this year. Meanwhile, Brown University made its first foray into cryptocurrency ETF ownership during the same period, acquiring a stake in the same ETF, worth $4.9 million at the end of March. Neither the state pension fund nor representatives from Brown University responded to requests for comment on their moves. Abu Dhabi's Mubadala sovereign wealth fund added to its holdings of the iShares ETF in the first quarter, bringing its total position to 8,726,972 shares, valued at $408.5 million. "What will be most important for me is whether, when all the data is finally in and we can analyze it, more investment advisory firms are stepping in," said Hougan. "That wave of adoption may be a slow-moving train, but it has forward momentum." Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Globe and Mail
01-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Jensen Huang Predicts Annual Data Center Spending Will Hit $1 Trillion by 2028. Here's the Ultimate Semiconductor ETF to Buy Right Now.
Semiconductors are the beating heart of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. Graphics processing units (GPUs), AI accelerators, high-bandwidth memory, and networking equipment fill modern data centers, delivering the computing capacity developers need to create advanced AI software. Data center spending is growing each year, and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang predicts it will top $1 trillion annually by 2028 as tech giants and start-ups alike battle for AI supremacy. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More » The iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ: SOXX) holds 30 different stocks that could be massive winners if Huang is right. It's currently down 16% in 2025 amid the broader market sell off that was triggered by simmering global trade tensions, but here's why investors might want to look past the short-term noise and buy it now. Every top semiconductor stock packed into one ETF The iShares Semiconductor ETF was established in 2001, so it has helped investors navigate numerous hardware booms driven by technologies like the internet, the smartphone, enterprise software, and cloud computing. Most suppliers of chips and components are now focusing on AI, because that's where the demand has shifted. The top five holdings in the iShares ETF feature some of the biggest hardware names in the AI space, and they represent 37.9% of the total value of the portfolio: Stock iShares ETF Portfolio Weighting 1. Broadcom 8.69% 2. Nvidia 8.01% 3. Texas Instruments 7.49% 4. Advanced Micro Devices 6.97% 5. Qualcomm 6.81% Data source: iShares. Portfolio weightings are accurate as of April 25, 2025, and are subject to change. Broadcom makes AI accelerators for three unnamed hyperscale customers which can be customized to suit their needs, so they are a great alternative to traditional GPUs from suppliers like Nvidia. Broadcom thinks it could capture up to $90 billion in annual revenue from those three customers alone by fiscal 2027. Beyond chips, the company sells data center switches and networking equipment to facilitate rapid processing speeds, which is also critical for AI developers. Despite growing competitive threats, Nvidia's data center GPUs are still the benchmark in AI hardware. The company recently unveiled its Blackwell Ultra GB300 GPU, which delivers a 50-fold performance bump in certain configurations compared to its old Hopper-based H100. The Blackwell Ultra architecture was designed for "reasoning" AI models, which require up to 100 times more computing power than traditional large language models, according to Jensen Huang. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is an emerging powerhouse in the data center space. It has its own lineup of AI GPUs, and its latest MI355X is built on a new architecture called CDNA (Compute DNA) 4, which was designed to rival Nvidia's original Blackwell architecture. However, those chips won't ship to customers in high volumes until midyear, so Nvidia still has a significant first-mover advantage. But it's not all about the data center, because AMD is also a top supplier of AI chips for personal computers, which could be a big growth market in the future. Outside of the above stocks, the iShares ETF holds a number of other prominent AI hardware names. They include Micron Technology, which supplies memory and storage chips, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, which fabricates most of the GPUs designed by Nvidia and AMD. The iShares ETF has a long track record of success President Donald Trump imposed a broad 10% tariff on all imported goods from America's trading partners in early April, in addition to a series of higher "reciprocal tariffs" on specific countries. However, semiconductors are exempt from the reciprocal levies, mainly because leading the AI race is a matter of national security for the U.S. Nevertheless, trade tensions could drive an economic slowdown, which might affect demand for chips in the short term as data center operators reevaluate their budgets. Data by YCharts. But here's the good news: The iShares Semiconductor ETF has delivered a compound annual return of 10.4% since it was established in 2001, beating the average annual gain of 7.8% in the S&P 500 over the same period. Plus, the ETF has delivered an accelerated annual return of 20.9% over the last 10 years specifically, thanks to the broad adoption of technologies like enterprise software, cloud computing, and now AI. The point is the iShares ETF has weathered a number of economic shocks during its 24-year history -- including President Trump's last tariff saga in 2018 -- while still delivering strong returns. If data center spending does grow to an annual rate of $1 trillion by 2028 as Jensen Huang predicts, then those returns are likely to continue (if not accelerate further). As a result, this might be a great time to buy the iShares ETF, especially considering its year-to-date dip of 16%. Should you invest $1,000 in iShares Trust - iShares Semiconductor ETF right now? Before you buy stock in iShares Trust - iShares Semiconductor ETF, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and iShares Trust - iShares Semiconductor ETF wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $607,048!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $668,193!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is880% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to161%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 28, 2025
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
1 Market-Beating Artificial Intelligence (AI) ETF That Could Turn $250,000 Into $1 Million
The iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (NYSEMKT: IGM) has delivered a compound annual return of 10.3% since it was established in 2001, comfortably beating the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC), which has generated an average annual gain of 7.8% over the same period (as of this writing). It's an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that focuses on the broader technology industry, so it has successfully navigated transformational booms driven by the internet, enterprise software, cloud computing, and more. Now, the bulk of the companies that make up its top holdings are laser-focused on developing artificial intelligence (AI), which could be the most valuable opportunity in the tech industry's history. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » Here's how the iShares ETF could turn $250,000 into $1 million over the long term. The iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF holds 283 different stocks, including most of the major players in the AI race. Its top-five holdings are Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Nvidia, and Meta Platforms, which represent a combined 41.7% of the portfolio's value, so the fund is quite top-heavy. However, the fund also holds a stake in a long list of companies that are successfully deploying AI into their legacy businesses to create new growth opportunities. Some of them include: Company Stock iShares ETF Portfolio Weighting Netflix 3.78% Salesforce 2.15% Oracle 1.89% Adobe 1.38% Advanced Micro Devices 1.29% Palo Alto Networks 1.01% CrowdStrike 0.84% Atlassian 0.30% Datadog 0.26% Docusign 0.14% Data source: iShares. Portfolio weightings are accurate as of April 17, 2025, and are subject to change. Netflix operates the world's largest streaming service for movies and TV shows. It uses AI in its recommendation engine to show subscribers the content they are most likely to enjoy, which keeps them engaged for longer periods of time. The company is coming off another quarter of record revenue through the first three months of 2025. Oracle was founded in 1977 and found early success with its database management software. The company evolved over time to help its business customers capitalize on the internet boom in the early 2000s and the cloud revolution in the 2010s. Now, it operates some of the world's best data centers for AI development, with a customer list that includes industry leaders like OpenAI, Meta Platforms, and Elon Musk's xAI. Oracle recently placed an order for 30,000 of Advanced Micro Devices' latest AI data center chips, the MI355X, which are expected to rival Nvidia's industry-leading Blackwell chips when they start shipping in the next few months. But AMD's AI opportunity transcends the data center because it also makes some of the most powerful AI chips for personal computers, which could be the industry's next big growth opportunity. Then there are Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike, two of the world's largest cybersecurity vendors. They have woven AI into their flagship products to automate everything from threat detection to incident response, which is critical because modern organizations face a growing number of threats as they shift more of their operations into the digital realm. As I highlighted above, the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF has delivered a compound annual return of 10.3% since 2001. However, that annual return accelerated to 18.7% over the past decade thanks to the proliferation of technologies like enterprise software, cloud computing, and now, AI. The table below shows how long it could take for the ETF to turn a starting balance of $250,000 into $1 million, based on three different scenarios: Compound Annual Return Time To Reach $1 Million 10.3% 15 Years 14.5% (midpoint) 11 Years 18.7% 9 Years Table and calculations by author. Simply put, investors who park $250,000 into the iShares ETF could find themselves with $1 million within 15 years, even if it reverts back to its long-term average return of 10.3%. But it won't necessarily be smooth sailing, because ETFs geared toward a specific industry like technology can be very volatile. In fact, the iShares ETF is down 17% in 2025 amid the simmering global trade tensions, which is much worse than the 10% decline in the S&P 500. So, even though the ETF typically beats the index over the long run, steep drawdowns are the price investors will pay for the opportunity to earn those strong returns. AI could be the biggest tailwind for the tech industry since the iShares ETF was established in 2001. Goldman Sachs estimates it will add $7 trillion to the global economy over the coming decade, and Cathie Wood's Ark Investment Management thinks it can improve labor productivity by an eye-popping $200 trillion by 2030. A lot of that value will be created by the companies in the iShares ETF, so patient investors have a legitimate chance to earn a solid return over the long run. Before you buy stock in iShares Trust - iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and iShares Trust - iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $532,771!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $593,970!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 781% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 149% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Anthony Di Pizio has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Adobe, Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Apple, Atlassian, CrowdStrike, Datadog, Docusign, Goldman Sachs Group, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, Oracle, and Salesforce. The Motley Fool recommends Palo Alto Networks and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 1 Market-Beating Artificial Intelligence (AI) ETF That Could Turn $250,000 Into $1 Million was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Forbes
22-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Should You Have Emerging Markets In Your Portfolio? How To Decide
Emerging markets have underperformed in recent years, but some analysts believe a resurgence is overdue. A report from RBC Capital Management notes some promising trends for these up-and-coming economies. China's dominance of the segment has lessened, emerging-market currencies have shown strength and the U.S. trade war likely won't involve some important emerging market economies—namely, India, Brazil and South Africa. Does this mean it's time to expand your portfolio beyond developed economies? Let's discuss the pros and cons of investing in emerging markets, how much you should allocate to the segment and three ways to fulfill that allocation. Emerging markets are economies in transition from developing to developed. They are economic adolescents: They show some characteristics of fully developed countries, but they remain less sophisticated than the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany and others. Relative to developed nations, emerging economies demonstrate: Investment research firm MSCI includes 24 countries in its emerging markets index. Six of the top emerging markets are China, India, Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan and Mexico, according to Nasdaq Contributor Prableen Bajpai. The advantages of investing in emerging markets include higher growth potential, diversification benefits and attractive valuations. Emerging markets can grow quickly. You can see the growth potential informally by reviewing the history of iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM), which tracks the MSCI Emerging Markets index. The ETF grew 338% from April 2003 to December 2007, which averages about 96% annually. In the past five years, the fund has appreciated 8.4% annually on average and is up 11.2% over the last 12 months. To be clear, these growth periods have not been smooth and easy. The iShares ETF has demonstrated dips as extreme as its gains. Even so, the emerging markets fund outperformed the S&P 500 between early 2003 and 2010. Since then, the S&P 500 has pulled ahead. Diversification is a strategy for managing risk and volatility. By investing across sectors, company sizes, asset types and geographies, you incorporate varying behaviors into your portfolio. Ideally, these varying behaviors have a mild offsetting effect when economic or financial market conditions change. Instead of watching all your positions lose value simultaneously, you might see some rise while others fall. The net effect is less extreme behavior for your portfolio as a whole. Emerging markets contribute to this strategy. For example, Brazilian or Chinese equities may experience gains related to local conditions that wouldn't benefit, say, Apple or Microsoft. Or, your domestic stocks may react more negatively to a U.S. economic recession than your emerging markets holdings. Emerging market stocks can be better values than domestic stocks. The P/E ratio of the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF portfolio is 15.63. The fund's P/B ratio is 1.97. Both metrics are modest relative to the S&P 500, which has a P/E of 28.39 and a P/B ratio of 4.87. Emerging market stocks tend to be volatile, partly because they are subject to currency risk and political risk. With greater growth potential comes greater volatility. Emerging market stocks can fall as quickly as they can rise. For example, the iShares fund and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index lost half their value in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis. They also dipped more than 35% between mid-2021 and late-2022. If the local currency loses value relative to the U.S. dollar, it can offset returns or magnify losses. Currency risk can worsen the normal volatility of emerging markets stocks. Purdue University's Craig Brown notes that the current trade policy uncertainty will likely increase currency volatility globally. Global U.S. companies like McDonald's and Amazon also face currency risk. However, these companies generate a lot of revenue in the U.S., which limits the relative currency effects. War, changing monetary policy and fluid regulations are political risk factors present in emerging market economies. These dynamics can destabilize the business environment, reduce earnings and shrink investment returns. Emerging markets assets are too volatile to be core holdings, no matter how risk-tolerant you are. Their ideal role is a complementary one. Alongside more stable assets, emerging market securities can add upside and improve portfolio diversification. Many investors limit their emerging markets exposure to a single-digit allocation. Here are some allocation data points to consider: The right allocation for your portfolio depends on your risk tolerance and investing timeline. You could start with a small allocation, say 2%, and then build your exposure as you get comfortable with these assets. To decide if emerging market investing is right for you, consider two questions: There are three common ways to invest in emerging markets. The lowest-risk option is purchasing a global securities fund that includes emerging markets exposure. You can also pursue a more targeted emerging markets investment with a dedicated ETF. The riskiest approach is via American Depository Receipts (ADRs), which are stocks of foreign companies trading on U.S. exchanges. Some global funds include emerging markets coverage alongside securities from developed countries. An example is Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF (VEU). The fund has more than 3,800 non-U.S. stocks from around the world. The emerging markets securities account for 26.4% of the portfolio. You can alternatively invest in a dedicated emerging markets fund. iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) holds more than 800 emerging markets stocks. Another option is Vanguard Emerging Markets Bond Fund Investor Shares (VEMBX), which holds primarily government bonds from Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, Brazil, Peru and others. If you prefer individual positions, you can seek out emerging market stocks trading on U.S. exchanges. Examples include chip foundry Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), Chinese tech company Alibaba (BABA) and PDD Holdings (PDD), an ecommerce company that originated in China. For more investing ideas, see best stocks to buy for 2025. Bottom Line Emerging market securities have risk, but they add a new layer of diversification and upside potential to your portfolio. If you decide to invest, move ahead with a small allocation to funds or individual stocks, and build your exposure over time. Depending on your risk tolerance and investing timeline, you could invest 2% to 9% of your portfolio in emerging markets. Emerging market stocks are riskier than U.S. stocks. Political unrest, regulatory changes and reactive currency values can affect business results and equity values. China, India, Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan and Mexico are emerging markets in 2025. Emerging markets can outperform developed markets. This occurred between 2003 and 2010. However, over the past 15 years, developed markets have performed better.
