Low-volatility funds still carry risks

Article Excerpt

Superior returns, yet with lower volatility—that’s a great selling point for ETF managers looking to attract skittish investors to low-volatility funds. The use of computer modelling to pinpoint those stocks only adds to the appeal. However, there are real risks in looking for a “black box” way to boost returns. At the same time, cutting overall volatility, can detract from the long-term returns of an ETF. That’s because using past data to pick stocks may work for a while, or in retrospect, but may not work longer term. Here’s an analysis of five low-volatility ETFs We analyzed low-volatility ETFs on pages 93 and 94. Here’s a recap of one, and a look at four more: The iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF (USMV) targets low volatility stocks but can also hold high volatility stocks. Currently, the ETF holds about 214 stocks selected from a broad universe of U.S. large and mid-cap companies. Individual stock weights are capped at 1.5%. As can be seen…