We’re all only too familiar with the current—and long-running—struggle for income. As editor of Morningstar.co.uk, if it was just eyeballs on articles that I cared about I need look no further than constantly publishing content with the words ‘yield’ and ‘income’ in their title. (For the record, I care about providing individual investors and their advisers with the education and information they need to make the right investment decisions, so there’s a lot more to it than just eyeballs on articles.)
In the hunt for yield, investors have had to dig ever deeper into more risky areas of the market to find the income they need in their portfolio. In their search, investors are increasingly turning to exchange-traded funds in an attempt to gain access to more exotic areas of the fixed income market, or to more complex strategies of the equity markets. Regular readers of Morningstar.co.uk will know that we’re big fans of exchange-traded products, given their low costs and the flexibility they provide to all investors to gain exposure to their chosen indices. But with this increased accessibility comes responsibility—is the industry confident that investors understand what they’re buying, does the industry put enough effort into providing education and support as well as accessibility, and on whose shoulders does this responsibility rest?
On October 10, we’ll be discussing these questions in the context of a more broad debate on where and how to find attractive yields in today’s environment. The panel discussion will feature as part of the London Stock Exchange’s “Using ETFs and ETPs to Navigate Difficult Market Conditions” event, and will be chaired by yours truly, featuring panellists Isabelle Bourcier of Ossiam, Matthew Arnold of State Street Global Advisors and Mark Johnson of iShares.
If you’re a professional investor, please come along to the London Stock Exchange to ask your own questions and attend other free panel debates.
This is a free event for market professionals only. To register your place, please click here. The agenda is available here.
