PCY Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF

Rock bottom interest rates are forcing the yield-starved investors to look for alternate sources of income. Many of them have poured money in dividend ETFs and while we believe in the long-term value of the dividend ETFs, their attraction will diminish slightly if the tax laws change next year. Additionally some of them now look expensive on valuation basis.

Many other investors have flocked to riskier assets in search of higher yields, including high yield bonds, preferred stocks or high dividend ETFs--which invest in companies with not so strong fundamentals. 

In order to take advantage of the growing demand for yield, many very innovative products have also been launched recently but some of those are very risky. (Read: Three Biggest Mistakes of ETF Investing)

So finding a combination of decent income, low-risk and solid growth potential seems to be a difficult task for investors. Thankfully there are some ETFs products available which possess this ideal combination.

Below we have analyzed three ETFs which have exhibited relatively low volatility in the past, have solid growth potential and yield more than 4%. Additionally these ETFs provide great diversification benefits to the portfolio.

PowerShares Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt Portfolio (PCY)

PCY is based on the DB Emerging Market USD Liquid Balanced Index, which tracks the potential returns of a theoretical portfolio of liquid emerging markets U.S. dollar-denominated government bonds issued by 22 emerging-market countries. (Read: Emerging Markets Sovereign Bond ETFs-Safe with Attractive Yields)

The case of investing in emerging markets' sovereign debt seems to be pretty strong now. Many emerging countries now have better fiscal health and lower debt levels than their developed counterparts. Further these countries are growing at a much higher rate compared to the developed world and have low correlations with developed economies.

Further, while interest rates are at rock-bottom levels in the U.S., the emerging countries’ central banks still have the flexibility to cut rates further, providing great chances for capital appreciation.

Launched in November 2007, the product has already attracted more than $2.8 billion in assets. It charges the investors 50 basis points in annual expenses and currently pays out a yield of 4.7%.

The fund has returned 18.9% year-to-date and 43.0% over a three-year period.  It has exhibited a low annualized volatility of 5.3% (based on daily price returns over one year period).

Guggenheim Multi-Asset Income ETF (CVY)

CVY follows the Zacks Multi-Asset Income Index, which is comprised of approximately 125 to 150 securities selected using a proprietary methodology, from a universe of domestic stocks, ADRs, REITs, MLPs, CEFs and preferred stocks.  The objective of the Index is to select a diversified group of securities with the potential to outperform, on a risk adjusted basis, the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index.

In terms of asset-class breakdown, the ETF is tilted towards common stocks (57.4%), while ADRs and MLPs (10.1% each) occupy the next two spots. (Read: 4 Low-Volatility ETFs to Hedge Your Portfolio)

By investing in diverse asset classes, which have low correlations, this ETF actually reduce volatility and provide stability to the portfolio. Diversified portfolios in general deliver superior risk-adjusted returns over the longer-term.

The fund has had a very impressive gain of 53.8% over three years while it has returned a decent 12.8% year-to-date. Additionally its annualized standard deviation was 11.7% compared with 12.6% for the S&P 500 index.

It charges an expense ratio of 60 basis points per year and currently has a 12 month yield of 5.1%.

JPMorgan Alerian MLP Index ETN (AMJ)

AMJ is the most popular MLP ETN in the MLP space with over $5.2 billion in assets under management and daily volume over 1.2 million shares a day. The ETN which seeks to track the Alerian MLP Index was launched in April 2009.

The note charges the investors 85 basis points a year in fees for its services but rewards the investor with a very attractive 4.9% yield.  

In addition to high yield and the potential for capital appreciation, MLPs also have lower volatility and provide diversification benefits to the portfolio. Further MLPs in general are less risky than other plays in the broader energy space. We may however add that MLPs are a complicated asset class and the investors should understand the tax related and other issues before investing. (Read: How to Play the MLP ETF Space).

While the fund has returned 8.2% year-to-date, its performance has been much better in the longer term, with a return of 83.8% over three years, almost double of SPY return of 43.0% over three years. The product also exhibited slightly lower volatility compared with the broader market with an annualized standard deviation of 12.3% compared with 12.6% for the S&P 500 index.

 

	PCY	CVY	AMJ	S&P 500
Yield	4.7%	5.1%	4.9%	2.0%
YTD Return	18.8%	12.8%	8.2%	14.7%
3-Year Return	43.0%	53.8%	83.8%	43.0%
Annualized S.D.	5.3%	11.7%	12.3%	12.6%

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JPM-ALERN MLP (AMJ): ETF Research Reports
 
GUGG-MULTI-ASST (CVY): ETF Research Reports
 
PWRSH-EM SVN DP (PCY): ETF Research Reports
 
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