Cut your volatility with these ETFs

Article Excerpt

Some investors look to reduce volatility in their portfolios for a number of reasons. One is that they can’t sleep at night because they’re nervous about the market outlook. In that case, low-volatilty funds may cut your your losses or even leave you with gains when the market is falling, but they can limit your returns in a soaring market. Another reason to aim to cut volatility is if you expect you will need to take cash out of your portfolio in the next year or two and you don’t want to risk having to raise cash by selling stocks at low prices. Below we discuss two ETFs that aim to provide investors with lower volatility portfolios. As well, in the supplement on page 69, we offer more information on low volatility strategies and compare the performance of these strategies with other options for lowering portfolio risk. ISHARES MSCI USA MINIMUM VOLATILITY ETF $72.80 (New York symbol USMV; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Conservative; Market cap:…