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The Mystery of Smart-Beta, Explained

The Mystery of Smart-Beta, Explained

(Bloomberg) -- ​​​​​​Smart-beta is one of the hottest trends in not just ETFs but all of investment management. Assets in the category have grown from $0 to almost $1 trillion in barely a decade. But what is it, exactly? 

On this week’s Trillions, Joel and Eric explore the mysteries of smart-beta. To some, it's all a mutation of passive indexing; to others, it's a better, cheaper version of active management. “Imagine R2D2 with the head of Peter Lynch," says Eric. 

And to help you understand how investors can use the products, Nir Kaissar, a Bloomberg Gadfly columnist and a financial advisor, and Tom Psarofagis, an ETF analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence and former issuer of smart-beta ETFs, join to offer their perspectives. 

 

To contact the authors of this story: Joel Weber in New York at jweber66@bloomberg.net, Eric Balchunas in Skillman at ebalchunas@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Magnus Henriksson at mhenriksso10@bloomberg.net.

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