NEW YORK: They were a hot new thing in an industry known for innovation. But in a year when practically everything on Wall Street boomed, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that hide their strategies struggled to make a mark.
Active non-transparent ETFs – known as ANTs – are touted by proponents as the key to sucking yet more assets from the mutual-fund world. They merge the access and tax advantages of ETFs with the magic of active management, letting stock pickers deploy their investment playbooks without fear of front-running or copycats.