Weekend Reading – Avantis Emerging Market ETF Set For Launch & BlackRock’s Report on European ETF Landscape
Weekend Reading is a collection of Investment Research and Lifestyle topics from all corners of the Web. We source the highest quality insights from Wall Street and Main Street that you may apply to your investment process. Unlike the rest of Bankeronwheels.com, this series is provided without additional guidance. As usual, everything is to be used at your own risk. Below is the type of content we shortlist:
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.
Featured
Avantis ETFs Start Trading On London Stock Exchange. Emerging Market ETF Set For Launch Next Week. (Banker on Wheels)
Two ETFs highly anticipated by some of our readers – the Avantis Global Equity UCITS ETF and the Avantis Global Small-Cap Value UCITS ETF started trading on Xetra as of 1st of October, and on LSE on December 4th. Keep an eye out for the Avantis Emerging Markets Equity UCITS ETF, which according to Bloomberg is expected to be listed on Xetra next week.
Portfolio Construction
Asset Allocation
UBS Special Report: Diversification & The craft of correlations - PDF Download (UBS)
This is a 70-page report (pdf) about diversification including non linerarity, beauty of indexing, and comparative strategies. Diversification is a central tenet of investment theory; from Markowitz, to Sharpe, to Scholes, Black and Merton, measuring and pricing risk consistently entails factoring in diversification. Yet, “In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.”
Understand Financial Markets
Market concentration: How big a worry? (Goldman Sachs)
The top 10 stocks in the S&P 500 account for an outsized share of the index’s market cap and of its stellar 2024 performance. So, just how anomalous is today’s equity market concentration, and how worrying is it? GS’ David Kostin argues that the unusually high concentration warrants investor concern because history suggests that high concentration is associated with lower long-run returns.
- U.S. Markets Are Swallowing the Rest of the World (A Wealth of Common Sense)
- Stocks are in the midst of their best two years since the dot-com boom (sherwood news)
- Currency Royale – Should You Hedge Your Bonds? (Banker on Wheels)
- Past, Present, and Future of Modern Finance (Research Affiliates - Paywall)
US Market Cap Is Now Twice US GDP (Global Financial Data)
For the first time in history, the market capitalization of all active stocks in the United States is more than twice the nation’s Gross Domestic Product. The Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index, which now has about 3,400 stocks, has tracked the market capitalization of all active stocks on US exchanges since 1970. The ratio of the market cap to GDP has never been this high in the nation’s history.
How To Invest
Active Investing
Factor Investing
Small-Cap Value Stocks: A Critical Perspective (Early Retirement Now)
Many of you have asked me to comment on a recent phenomenon in the FI/FIRE community: Small-Cap Value (SCV) Stocks. When you thought everyone was on board with simple, stress-free, and hands-off index investing, I sense that people feel the itch again to tinker with their portfolios – this time with “Small-Cap Value (SCV) Stocks.” To be precise, small-cap value is nothing new.
Discretionary Investing
Alternative Asset Classes
The Financial Stability Implications of Digital Assets (Federal Reserve Bank of New York)
In recent years, fnancial activity associated with digital assets has grown signifcantly, with periods of exponential growth and multiple precipitous crashes. Not only have digital asset prices experienced sharp increases and declines, but these asset price dynamics have been accompanied by the failure of frms in the digital asset ecosystem, resembling the dynamics around financial crises in the traditional financial system. The goal of this article is to give an overview of the financial stability risks associated with the digital asset ecosystem.
Wall Street
Bad Bets
ETFs
UCITS ETFs
The trends shaping the ETF Market (Blackrock)
Building on our 2022 survey which explored the next wave of ETF investors in Europe, we teamed up with YouGov once more to better understand the trends shaping the present and future of investing across the region. This year, we spoke to 36,730 people across 14 European markets (5,040 in the UK) and compared this data to our previous study to identify trends shaping investing in Europe.
US ETFs
Wealth Management
Personal Finance
My guest today is Joel Nagel, founder of the international law firm Nagel & Associates, which has a major focus on asset protection. Joel is also the Chairman of Caye International Bank, and has served as ambassador to Austria, the United Nations in Vienna and to Croatia and Slovenia on behalf of the Belizean government. In today’s episode, Joel starts by covering the four key risks in asset protection. He walks through different use cases for trusts, second passports and dual citizenship to help negate these risks. Joel also shares his perspective on both gold and cryptocurrencies and explains why using debt can be a helpful tool to protect your assets.
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Platforms
Interactive Brokers: Step-By-Step Account Opening Guide (Banker on Wheels)
So you have read our comprehensive review of Interactive Brokers (affectionately abbreviated IBKR or even IB by its users) and you have decided to open an account. This guide will walk you through the steps of the process. In some ways, this broker account opening process can be longer than for other brokers. That’s because IBKR is more sophisticated. But, we make this process a bit simpler. In the end going through it is worth the hassle given the benefits the broker may give you in the long run. Let’s get started!
(Early) Retirement
What is the healthy life expetancy after retirement? (Statista)
The important steps to reach financial independence at an early age include disciplined saving, reducing unnecessary expenses, and investing wisely to maximize compound interest. Key points are maintaining a high savings rate, choosing cost-effective investments, and making consistent contributions to long-term financial growth. Small, deliberate actions taken today can significantly shorten the timeline to financial freedom, allowing for retirement well ahead of the typical age.
- Retirees, a Rich Life Does Not Require Spending More Money (Finance Buff)
- Achieving Financial Freedom Through Multifamily with Christian Osgood (Average Joe Finances)
- I retired at 30 with $540,000 in the bank and ‘I don’t have any regrets’—3 moves that helped me get there (CNBC)
- The Best Books and Podcasts in 2024 About Aging and Retirement (Wall Street Journal)
Financial Advice
Design Your Lifestyle
Personal Development
Health & Wellness
- How do I stay healthy in my 50s? (Guardian)
- The Science Of How Nature Changes Your Brain—From Sleep To Cognition To Your Nervous System | Dacher Keltner (10% Happier with Dan Harris )
- Cities With the Worst Winter Air Pollution (Visual Capitalist)
- People in Portugal eat the least ultra-processed food in Europe. (voronoi)
Careers & Entrepreneurship
Travel
Tech & Economy
Economy
Will Poland's Economic Miracle Ever End? (TLDR)
Poland's economic rise to power has been remarkable. With their GDP per capita increasing more than tenfold, it has slowly become a massive EU powerhouse. In this video, we're taking a look at Poland's economic growth, how it all happened and whether the economy can sustain this momentum.
Tech & Science
And Finally
Good Luck and Keep’em* Rolling!
(* Wheels & Dividends)
Trade Wars, Real Wars, but Equities Close To All-Time Highs: Is It A Good Time To Invest?
7 Reasons Why Japan May Be Your Next Cycling Adventure
Nomads in 2026: Genki vs SafetyWing – Which Travel Insurance Wins?
How You Can Cycle The World – A Practical Guide
Weekend Reading – Vanguard Cuts Fees across 15 ETFs & IBKR launches prediction markets
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