Factors in FX: A Positive Asset Class in 2018

IPOs and Spin-Offs are seen as dynamic moments in the history of a company. In many ways it represents both the ending and the beginning of a company’s history. The exciting part is that the “beginning” of the post-IPO or Spin-off period, usually starts with quite a lot of capital. In fact, according to Bloomberg, from 2002 through to June 2019, U.S. IPOs have raised over $570.87 billion USD in market cap.

In this video, Gregg will provide an overview of what we feel makes New Listings so special, how Thematic Investing can aid an investor to access securities they otherwise would have little-to-no exposure to, and why First Trust feels they may present a great opportunity for the thematic focused investor.

Blockchain has the potential to impact the world as much as the internet did in the 1990’s and become the next big infrastructure of innovation.

Blockchain is however NOT Bitcoin but simply the powerful technology Cryptocurrencies use, similar to how email uses the internet. As the technology continues to evolve and being nearly impossible to tamper with, we are seeing more and more companies across a variety of industries and sectors using the technology to enable the real-time transmission of information and data.

In this video, Gregg Guerin will discuss the essence of the Blockchain, a few dynamic applications of the technology, and some of the major players driving the advancement of the Blockchain in the real world.

Cloud Computing is one of the hottest information technology sectors in the market today and its growth over the last decade shows no real sign of slowing down. In fact, the International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates the compound five year annual growth rate (CAGR) of the Cloud Computing market to be 21.9%, between 2016 and 2021.

In this video, Gregg Guerin will discuss the power of the Cloud, its dynamic uses today, the growth estimates, and how First Trust feels this rapidly growing theme has the potential to affect everyday life and long term investment opportunities.

First Trust Portfolio Manager, Anthony Beevers, will discuss how Value and Momentum Factors have the potential to generate attractive excess returns over the long, medium and short term across a broad range of markets.

He will also give you an insight in how the First Trust’s AlphaDEX® UCITS ETF methodology seeks to capture a pure exposure to these factors, while reviewing the performance of Value and Momentum across US and Global equity markets.

The internet has changed the world and become one of the fastest adopted technologies of all time. As the backbone for many cutting edge exponential technologies of the 21st century, First Trust truly believes that the full set of opportunities has yet to be realized, leaving a bright future for this incredible technological innovation.

In this video, Gregg Guerin will discuss the progression of the internet evolution, the themes that are interconnected to the internet growth, and the potential revenue generation.

2018 saw the return of volatility, with stock markets worldwide posting disappointing returns amidst record highs and sharp reversals. However, 2019 has started strongly with a v-shaped recovery in Q1. How have Thematic Indices performed among these fast changing market conditions?

In this video, First Trust sheds some light on this question and reviews how a variety of themes have performed in 2018 and through Q1 2019.

Thematic investing is a newer idea to the market today, but not to First Trust. We have a lengthy track record in providing a variety of long-term thematic strategies, including access to the progression of the Internet, which enabled the rise of Cloud Computing and Blockchain technologies.

In this video, Gregg Guerin will provide a brief history of how themes and Mega Trends have affected various stocks and markets over time, how the current technology revolution is poised to continue to affect our lives, and potentially investors’ portfolios through thematic ETFs.

Thematic investing is a newer idea to the market today, but not to First Trust. We have a long and strong track record in providing a variety of long-term thematic strategies, including the Internet, Infrastructure, Cloud Computing, Blockchain, Robotics and Cybersecurity.

Gregg Guerin will walk through a history of how themes and Mega Trends have affected various stocks and markets over time, and how the current technology revolution looks set to affect the future for decades to come.

Finally, Gregg will also detail the potential benefits to investors or advisors in rethinking their portfolio allocations to include thematic investing.

Today, according to the World Bank, Emerging Markets represent a larger share of the world economy than either the U.S., the EU and Japan individually. However, they do typically represent a more modest allocation in Investors’ portfolios.

Yes, emerging markets may be volatile, but over the long-term we feel the asset class can offer some compelling opportunities.

In this webinar, First Trust’s Gregg Guerin (Senior Product Specialist) and Leonardo Da Costa (Senior Portfolio Manager), will help promote your understanding of Emerging Markets in general, the underlying historical and projected macro-economic data, and the rationales behind investment decisions.

Forecast: Cloudy with a strong chance of innovation and growth

The growth Cloud Computing has experienced in the last decade is showing no real signs of slowing down.

In fact, at First Trust, we are confident the innovative technology has the potential to change the world across both business and social boundaries…while being the next big step in the history of computing.

The market estimates are also positive, with the International Data Corporation estimating that the Cloud Computing market will achieve a compound five-year annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.9% between 2016 and 2021.

As part IV of First Trust’s “Power of Thematic Investing Series” this webinar will discuss:

• What is Cloud Computing
• Brief history of Computing
• Previous Estimates on Cloud Computing Growth
• Cloud Computing Actual Growth & Forecasts
• Introduction to First Trust’s Unique Pure-Play Cloud Computing UCITS ETF (FSKY)

Many investment professionals are aware of factors and their presence and effect on the equity markets. However, factors are not bound by asset class and some of the same factors that exist in equity markets are also present in other asset classes, such as the FX markets. 2018 was a year where almost every asset class had negative returns, however currencies chosen using certain factors actually produced positive returns.

Portfolio Manager Anthony Beevers will provide a detailed Market review of how certain factors affected the FX markets in 2018, and how that translated into a positive total return.

It’s no secret that the thematic offering of IPOs and Spin-Offs constitute a significant part of equity capital markets activity and are seen as drivers of innovation and growth.

According to Bloomberg, from 2002 through September 2018, U.S. IPOs have raised over $529.49 billion USD in market cap.

The key is to find the right investments and the right solution for you!
The primary motivation for many investors regarding IPOs is to receive a short-term surge in price, regardless of a stock’s longer-term potential for success or failure.

At First Trust, we take a different approach. Through our disciplined and rules-based approach, we seek to capture asset allocation benefits of strong performing U.S. companies as they transfer from a private to a publicly traded company post-IPO.

This webinar aims to help enhance your understanding how IPOs and Spin-Offs work and how the IPOX®-100 U.S. Index technology can help investors get exposure to unique factors, not possible with conventional benchmarks.

Webinar Highlights:
•What are IPOs and Spin-Offs
•Thematic approach: The market data and investment rationale
•Why long-term asset allocation capture is behind FPX
•Discuss the specialist FPX rules based and diversified ETF wrapper

Gregg will provide a detailed look at dividend investing, a brief summary of its history and highlights of a few powerful factors that could potentially lead to success or failure in equity income investing. He will also walk through our First Trust’s time-tested approach to equity income investing, how we firmly believe that investors’ buy companies, not dividends and why now might be a good time to add equity income at this point in the cycle.

In this interview, shot at Inside ETFs Europe, 2018, Gregg Guerin (First Trust) walks us through the following;

The blockchain revolution has arrived, and we believe it has the potential to impact the world just as much as the internet has since the 1990's. On the 11th of September we will be hosting a webinar discussing the hype behind the ‘Blockchain Revolution’, including taking a look into the technology.

Webinar Highlights:
- What is Blockchain & The Technology Behind The Phenomenon
- Transformation/Exponential Technologies Like The Internet of Things (IOT)
- Not Simply Bitcoin But The Technology Enabling Cryptocurrencies
- Who Are The Beneficiaries Of The Blockchain Technological Revolution
- Europe’s First Blockchain UCITS ETF – A Diversified & Liquid Global Opportunity

First Trust will be hosting a webinar discussing the power of thematic internet investing, the future potential investment behind the ‘Internet Evolution’, the growth of the internet and a way to gain exposure to the giant and popular FANG stocks. (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google)

Webinar Highlights:
- Case Study: The Power of Thematic Investing and the Dow Jones Internet Composite Index
- In-depth Discussion on The Four Mega-Cap Tech Juggernauts – the ‘FANGS’
- Multiple Facets of the Internet: How we Use it and How It’s Changing our Lives
- The Potential Investment Opportunities That Arise from Internet Evolution
- Exposure to a Broad Array of Interned-Based Themes
- First Trust’s Dow Jones Internet UCITS ETF (“FDN”): A Diversified FANG Plus Opportunity

Nasdaq Dorsey Wright & First Trust Bring AlphaDEX® to European Advisors | .5 CPD Credit

The growth of technology & fee based advisory in the United States has been a powerful driver of the adoption of ETFs and the outsourcing of Model Portfolios by financial advisors and wealth managers.

MiFID II and the rise of robo advisors look set to reshape advisor business models and accelerate these same trends among investors in Europe.

Nasdaq Dorsey Wright and First Trust have been at the forefront of this investing revolution in the United States, delivering quantitative asset allocation strategies and systematic smart beta ETFs to empower advisors to compete in this new world.

The combination of Nasdaq Dorsey Wright Relative Strength Model Portfolios and First Trust AlphaDEX® ETFs is a powerful solution now available to advisors in Europe to enable them to potentially thrive in the era of the robo advisors.

In this session participants will learn:
-How to implement a systematic approach to asset allocation utilising ETFs
-How to differentiate between smart beta exposures
-Nasdaq Dorsey Wright relative strength asset allocation methodology
-First Trust AlphaDEX® security selection strategy

"AlphaDEX®" is a registered trademark of First Trust Portfolios L.P. First Trust Portfolios L.P. has obtained a patent for the AlphaDEX® stock selection methodology from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Speakers:
•Gregg Guerin, Senior Product Specialist, First Trust Global Portfolios
•Cameron Lilja, Director of Research & Development, Nasdaq Global Information Services
•Jay Gragnani, Head of Research & Client Engagement, Nasdaq Dorsey Wright

First Trust’s AlphaDEX® methodology combines proven fundamental factors in a range of systematic equity ETFs. First Trust has pioneered fundamentally based ETFs with over 10 years of AlphaDEX® track record. In this presentation, Gregg will introduce how to capture the three market anomalies (Size, Value, and Growth) from the Nobel-prize winning modern portfolio theory (MPT) to potentially outperform market capitalization weighted indices in various equity markets.

CISI Annual Conference