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November 23, 2011 at 07:00 PM
The expanding world of ETFs made its way to Capitol Hill on October 19, with a Senate Hearing titled “Market Microstructure: Examination of Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs).” The purpose of the meeting was to analyze the impact of ETFs on the financial markets.
Senator Jack Reed, (D-R.I.) led the ETF hearing, which featured a panel of four financial experts. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID), originally scheduled to attend, was not present.
ETFs have recently been blamed for increased stock market volatility, particularly toward the daily market close.
“Over the past year, research shows the S&P 500 moved in lockstep with its stocks more than 86 percent of the time. The idea is that the index should move differently than the component stocks individually,” said Harold Bradley, chief investment officer, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. “This is remarkable and unprecedented, reminding us of the 1987 crash.”
Bradley also complained that, “ETFs are stretching the idea of what represents an index.”
