Getting your CAS certificate to become a Certified Annuities Specialist is an excellent way to differentiate yourself from your competition in the financial services industry job market. A fund certificate, making you a Certified Fund Specialist, is also an important distinction that can improve your career prospects and performance as a financial services professional.
In your training for these certificates you will be able to gain in-depth knowledge of financial products and be introduced to real-life application of such knowledge. The following is an example regarding exchange traded funds:
The 10 largest ETFs account for almost 40% of all ETF assets. The 10 funds with the most trading activity account for roughly 60% of all ETF trading volume. For example, SPDR (S&P 500) trading close to three billion shares in December 2009, with an average bid-ask spread of just one penny.
Early ETFs were organized as UITs, an inexpensive structure easy to oversee. Today, almost all ETFs are hybrid mutual funds including features of closed- and open-end funds.
ETF shares are formed by participants who "create" (buy) creation units; specific securities that match the composition of a particular market index. These securities are then delivered to custodian banks that, in turn, deliver index shares to the participants once purchase trades have settled. Such exchanges occur after the markets have closed for the day.
Creation units are denominated in fractions of the index, ranging in price from 1/5th to 1/100th of the underlying price of the market index. These units typically represent 50,000 shares of the index (but range from 25,000 to 600,000 depending on issuer and specific index).
Creation units are sold by an authorized participant who packages the needed number of redemption units of the index shares; transactions commonly done by market specialists. ETFs pay for redemption units with in-kind stock portfolios that match the index's composition. Custodians make these exchanges after market hours.
The first S&P 500 ETF was introduced in 1993 by State Street Global Advisors and structured as a UIT; later offerings by State Street were organized as mutual funds. Back in 2000, Spiders (S&P Depository Receipts) were held for an average of just 19 days. DJIA Model New Deposit Shares (Diamonds) were first offered as a UIT in 1998 and trade at 1/100th of its value. NASDAQ-100 Tracking Stocks (QQQ), known as "Cubes," were first offered as UITs in 1998.
The NASDAQ 100 is the technology sector of the NASDAQ Index. Back in 2000, Cubes were held for an average of four days. In 1998, Merrill Lynch created Holding Company Depository Receipts (HOLDRs). These "grantor trusts" differ from UIT and mutual fund ETFs. In 1996, Barclays Global Fund Investors first offered "Individual Shares" (iShares) organized as mutual funds. Barclays' San Francisco-based subsidiary was formally Wells Fargo Investment Advisors, the 1960s creators of institutional indexed portfolios. iShares trade at 1/10th the market value of their underlying index. The earliest Barclays series were known as WEBS (World Equity Benchmark Shares). Vanguard sought approval for its first ETFs in 2001 (Vipers-Vanguard Index Participation Equity Receipts).
Exchange traded funds are one topic that may be covered in a CAS certificate class or a fund certificate class. Training for these designations can help you to better understand the above example.
Author Resource:
Cory Bowman is Director of Ops at the Institute of Business Finance. IBF has helped thousands of members of the financial services industry attain designations. For more information about a CAS certificate or a fund certificate, visit http://www.icfs.com
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