The full transcript of John Bogle’s recent webinar examining exchange-traded funds and the outlook for America’s investors.

 

As part of the festivities surrounding the 2009 Journal of Indexes editorial board meeting, IndexUniverse.com hosted a live webinar with Vanguard founder and index industry legend John Bogle.

During the one-hour presentation, Mr. Bogle unveiled new research regarding how successful (or not) investors are when trading exchange-traded funds, and took a big picture look at the state of American finance.

Moderated by JoI editor and IndexUniverse.com publisher Jim Wiandt, the webinar features an extensive audience Q&A session. A full transcript follows below.

Jim Wiandt, editor, Journal of Indexes (Wiandt): Good morning everyone, and welcome to a very special event that we have here today. We are actually at the NASDAQ market site and we have the Journal of Indexes editorial board meeting today.

We have

...

Actively managed exchange traded funds are finally starting to trickle into the market.

But for the trickle to become a flood, active ETFs will have to overcome a number of obstacles, not the least of which is the establishment of desirable performance.

“Would people want active management that comes with the tax advantages, transparency and liquidity of an ETF?” asked Scott Burns, the director of ETF analysis at Morningstar Inc. of Chicago and editor of Morningstar ETFInvestor, a monthly newsletter. “The answer is yes, but if it turns into a tradeoff for returns, the answer is no.”

It is a challenge, but some asset managers think that they are up to it.

The Grail American Beacon Large Cap Value ETF (GVT) from Grail Advisors LLC of San Francisco, which began trading on May 4, allows portfolio managers unrestricted trading.

Full Story: http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090531/REG/305319965/1025/ETF

There's been plenty of speculation on the sale of iShares. Finally, here's the truth.

We've got Matt Hougan and John Spence and Chuck Jaffe and the Wall Street Journal—and now even Murray Coleman all jumping in and speculating on what's going to happen with iShares. The truth is that none of them know—and even the people over at BGI probably don't know. But I do.

I just don't see it happening. Or rather, I do think that an eventual separation has become exponentially more likely ... I just don't think it happens immediately. 

First of all, let me point you to the best blog on the topic yet. It's Paul Amery's blog from over on the http://www.indexuniverse.eu/ site. Here are the Cliff's NotesTM of what Paul covered in his blog that few others have hit upon:

1. Barclays needs to tell

...

Active ManagementActive Investment ManagementActive management is a strategy in which an investment manager selects investments that he believes will outperform the market index. Active management implies that the investment manager uses discretion to choose investments that will perform better than the index, and thus the fund will have high returns. A passive manager, on the other hand, will make investments that follow the market index.Read dozens of additional articles like this within the guide to Hedge Fund Definitions and Terms.Free Daily Hedge Fund NewsletterRelated to Active Management:Hedge Fund Terms & DefinitionsInvestment BookHedge Fund Strategy GuideSortino RatioSharpe RatioHedge Fund Employment Guide...

This is one podcast that I subscribe to and listen to religiously.

Vanguard’s Plain Talk on Investing podcast:
In this episode, “Index funds vs. active funds”, Vanguard Chief Investment Officer Gus Sauter will help you better understand two different approaches to mutual fund investing—indexing and active management.
Download the podcast in MP3 file.

You can also read the transcript while