A Call for Greater Transparency

By Jennifer Grancio, Head of Global Business Development for iShares | Oct 21, 2011

Since their introduction more than twenty years ago, exchange traded funds have offered investors a dynamic, transparent means to gain access to a range of asset classes, from stocks to bonds to commodities.

In the past few years, however, sponsors have introduced more complex products, including so-called leveraged and inverse funds, as well as products backed principally by derivatives rather than physical holdings. These more complex funds account for less than 10 percent of the ETF universe, yet receive nearly all of the media attention.

In this video, Jennifer Grancio, head of Global Business Development for iShares, explains why we are calling for a global classification system that clearly identifies the differences among exchange traded products.

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