A new competition has begun to see who can successfully solve an investing paradox: how to package illiquid, private assets into liquid, public exchange-traded funds. State Street, in partnership with Apollo, officially kicked off this race with a recent filing. If approved, their offering would make one of Wall Street's fastest-growing corners—private credit—open to a much wider world than just institutional investors.

On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Vildana Hajric, a cross-asset reporter at Bloomberg News, about the details of the filing, why more filings are expected, what to know about Apollo’s “liquidity backstop” and why all of this is such a potential game-changer. 

A new competition has begun to see who can successfully solve an investing paradox: how to package illiquid, private assets into liquid, public exchange-traded funds. State Street, in partnership with Apollo, officially kicked off this race with a recent filing. If approved, their offering would make one of Wall Street's fastest-growing corners—private credit—open to a much wider world than just institutional investors.
On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber speak with Vildana Hajric, a cross-asset reporter at Bloomberg News, about the details of the filing, why more filings are expected, what to know about Apollo’s “liquidity backstop” and why all of this is such a potential game-changer.

Money goes where it's treated best. That simple truth is a big reason why more and more money—trillions, in fact—flows into a powerful, low-cost tool that's quietly transformed investing in recent years. Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, let you invest in everything from the stock market to gold like never before. This biweekly podcast will demystify them—and delight you in the process.

Joel Weber and Eric Balchunas demystify the world of exchange-traded funds, or ETFs.

Trillions

The Apollo ETF Landing

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/e323e827-a2a2-4240-adbd-b1f601158a53/transcript

The idea of using leverage to layer one investment return, say equities, on top of another, say a managed futures strategy, is something institutional investors have been doing for decades under the term “portable alpha.” Now a suite of young, fast-growing exchange-traded funds have come along—they’re called “return stacking” ETFs—and they’re offering such layering to the masses.

On this episode, Joel and Eric speak with Corey Hoffstein, chief executive and chief information officer of Newfound Research and one of the masterminds behind the Return Stacked ETF suite. They discuss how these ETFs work, where they fit in a portfolio and why this is a more responsible use of leverage than the kind that blew up the market in 2008. 

The idea of using leverage to layer one investment return, say equities, on top of another, say a managed futures strategy, is something institutional investors have been doing for decades under the term “portable alpha.” Now a suite of young, fast-growing exchange-traded funds have come along—they’re called “return stacking” ETFs—and they’re offering such layering to the masses.
On this episode, Joel and Eric speak with Corey Hoffstein, chief executive and chief information officer of Newfound Research and one of the masterminds behind the Return Stacked ETF suite. They discuss how these ETFs work, where they fit in a portfolio and why this is a more responsible use of leverage than the kind that blew up the market in 2008.

Return Stacking

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/2151d820-4c96-4c87-8c1c-b1da00fe283b/transcript

While exchange-traded funds have become increasingly popular and people are more familiar with them, there are still aspects of ETFs that—for some—remain shrouded in mystery. So we recently asked our followers on social media to send us any ETF questions they may have or topics they were curious about. We received a ton of responses. 

On this episode of Trillions, Joel Weber and Eric Balchunas answer about 20 of these questions—ranging from whether ETFs will be in 401(k) plans someday to how overnight trading works to our thoughts on some of the new iterations of ETFs, like buffers, return stacking and crypto. 

While exchange-traded funds have become increasingly popular and people are more familiar with them, there are still aspects of ETFs that—for some—remain shrouded in mystery. So we recently asked our followers on social media to send us any ETF questions they may have or topics they were curious about. We received a ton of responses. 
On this episode of Trillions, Joel Weber and Eric Balchunas answer about 20 of these questions—ranging from whether ETFs will be in 401(k) plans someday to how overnight trading works to our thoughts on some of the new iterations of ETFs, like buffers, return stacking and crypto.

Should I Just 'VTI and Chill'? Your ETF Questions Answered

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/07c4d746-2e15-4ebf-852e-b1cb012ebb37/transcript

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, which were finally introduced earlier this year after intense regulatory scrutiny, have already become some of the most successful ETF launches ever. For months it seemed that spot ETFs for Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, might linger in a similar purgatory — and then, after some back and forth with issuers, regulators finally blessed them. About 10 products began trading in mid-July; they've seen healthy inflows, though Bitcoin ETFs were in a different league.

On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber welcome stacy-marie ishmael, an executive editor at Bloomberg News who oversees crypto, digital payments and cross-asset coverage, to the podcast. They discuss the differences between Bitcoin and Ether, what happened during the approval process, how the various Ether ETFs compare, what we've learned since their launch, and what this might mean for future crypto ETFs.

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, which were finally introduced earlier this year after intense regulatory scrutiny, have already become some of the most successful ETF launches ever. For months it seemed that spot ETFs for Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, might linger in a similar purgatory — and then, after some back and forth with issuers, regulators finally blessed them. About 10 products began trading in mid-July; they've seen healthy inflows, though Bitcoin ETFs were in a different league.
On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber welcome stacy-marie ishmael, an executive editor at Bloomberg News who oversees crypto, digital payments and cross-asset coverage, to the podcast. They discuss the differences between Bitcoin and Ether, what happened during the approval process, how the various Ether ETFs compare, what we've learned since their launch, and what this might mean for future crypto ETFs.

Ether ETFs Are Looking for a Bitcoin Style Love

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/44c69630-f754-4e77-9d54-b1be0124a995/transcript

The Apollo ETF Landing

In 1 playlist(s)

Trillions

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips