In this episode, Pierre Daillie sit down with Eli Yufest, Executive Director of The Canadian ETF Association (CETFA), for a sharp and revealing conversation about the future of Canada’s ETF industry. Yufest gets right down to it: beyond the Canadian ETF industry's assets under management, more than $230 billion of Canadian investor capital has left the country—straight into U.S.-listed ETFs—and he’s sounding the alarm on what’s at stake if that trend continues.

With ETFs now pushing close to $600 billion in assets under management at home, CETFA is stepping up with a full-court press—launching bold educational campaigns, ramping up advocacy efforts, and pushing for smart policy changes. From regulatory risks and investor misconceptions to a tidal wave of U.S. share-class products set to flood the market, this episode digs into the real pressures threatening Canada's investment ecosystem—and the plan to keep it thriving.

What if the biggest threat to Canada’s financial future isn’t inflation or interest rates—but our own indifference to homegrown ETFs?

📌 Episode Snapshot: Newly appointed CETFA Executive Director Eli Yufest joins us to share his blueprint for growing and protecting Canada’s ETF industry. With a warning about the growing shift of Canadian dollars to U.S.-listed ETFs, Yufest outlines a two-pronged strategy: direct advocacy with regulators and an aggressive education push to reach everyday investors and financial advisors. The conversation covers looming CRM3 disclosure changes, why young Canadians are embracing ETFs, how innovation can unlock broader access, and what’s at risk if we fail to make the domestic market more competitive.

[00:01:00] – Meet Eli Yufest – from political campaigns to ETF advocacy [00:06:30] – What surprised Eli about the ETF industry [00:08:00] – Canada’s overlooked role as ETF innovator [00:09:30] – Why regulators and politicians are finally listening [00:11:00] – CETFA’s core mission: Grow the ETF industry [00:13:00] – The education gap: Jane & Joe Front Porch still don’t know what ETFs are [00:14:30] – Advisors: Still a huge ETF adoption lag [00:15:30] – ETF misconceptions: liquidity, costs, and innovation [00:17:30] – Gen Z, online brokerages, and the future of DIY investing [00:20:00] – The biggest threat: $230B in assets has left for the U.S. [00:22:00] – ETF share class tsunami: 1,200+ new U.S. products are coming [00:25:30] – Why Canada must act now—or lose its ETF market entirely [00:28:00] – Private equity ETFs and the democratization of access [00:33:00] – From hedge fund strategies to long-short: ETFs unlock it all [00:35:30] – CETFA’s behind-the-scenes policy influence and wins [00:39:00] – Expanding membership, strengthening industry alignment [00:41:30] – Drawing on a career in strategy and education to lead change

#CanadianETFs #ETFInnovation #InvestorEducation #CapitalFlight #FinancialAdvocacy

Forget what you thought about merger arbitrage — it’s no longer out of reach for individual investors and advisors.

In this episode, Corey Hoffstein, CIO at Newfound Research and co-creator of Return Stacked ETFs, joins us for a deep dive into merger arbitrage — a long-used institutional strategy that’s now accessible to retail and advisor portfolios via the RSBA ETF (Return Stacked Bonds & Arbitrage ETF) Corey explains that merger arbitrage isn’t just about betting on deals; it’s about systematically capturing a risk premium tied to time and deal closure uncertainty. With low correlation to stocks, bonds, and credit spreads, merger arb serves as a powerful diversifier — especially in today’s tight credit environment. The discussion covers how RSBA overlays this risk premium on top of core U.S. Treasuries, allowing investors to enhance returns without sacrificing their bond sleeve. Corey unpacks the return stacking framework, behavioral benefits, and why this method reduces "line item risk" while expanding portfolio breadth. This isn’t just theory — it’s a practical way for advisors and investors to get exposure to uncorrelated return streams, preserve core holdings, and finally access what institutions have done for decades. Chapters

00:00 – Introduction: Why Merger Arb is Timely 01:00 – What is Merger Arbitrage? Mechanics of the Strategy 03:00 – Risk Premium vs Arbitrage: What You’re Really Capturing 04:00 – How Merger Arb Correlates (or Doesn’t) with Stocks, Bonds, and Credit 05:30 – Why Tight Credit Spreads Make Merger Arb a Strong Alternative 07:00 – What RSBA Is and How It’s Constructed 08:30 – Bonds + Merger Arb = Corporate Bond Alternative? 10:00 – Return Stacking Explained: Keep Your Core Beta, Add a Layer 12:00 – Why Merger Arb Is Historically Undervalued by Advisors 13:30 – Behavioral Obstacles and Reducing Line Item Risk 15:00 – Breadth vs Depth in Diversification: Expanding Risk Premiums 16:30 – From T-Bills + Arb to Treasuries + Arb: A Better Structural Design 17:00 – Building a “Hyper Diversified” Portfolio with Return Stacking 18:30 – How Stacking Reduces Tracking Error and Behavioral Risk 19:30 – Democratizing Portable Alpha for Every Investor 20:00 – Closing Remarks: The Future of Diversification Is Here

💡 Key Takeaways

• Merger arbitrage is a true, durable risk premium, not a speculative bet — it compensates investors for time and deal break risk post-announcement.
• RSBA combines Treasuries and merger arb into a single ETF, offering a compelling alternative to corporate credit without the same economic exposure.
• Return stacking allows investors to “add without subtracting”, enhancing portfolios with diversifiers while retaining core holdings.
• Behavioral issues like tracking error and client discomfort are reduced by maintaining traditional exposures while quietly layering on return streams.
• You no longer need to give up your bonds to get alpha. With ETFs like RSBA, you can have both — and do it with institutional-grade tools.

More...

Return Stacked ETFs RSBA #ReturnStacking #MergerArbitrage #CoreyHoffstein #InvestmentStrategies #alternativeinvesting Copyright © AdvisorAnalyst

In this episode, Mike Philbrick, CEO, ReSolve Asset Management (which jointly innovated Return Stacked Portfolio Solutions with Newfound Research) breaks down how systematic macro strategies can offer powerful diversification benefits—and how Return Stacked™ portfolios make it possible for investors to keep their traditional equity and bond allocations intact while layering on a return stream designed to thrive in challenging market environments. Mike and Pierre unpack the behavioral pitfalls of traditional diversification, the institutional roots of portable alpha, and how the RGBM ETF (Return Stacked™ Global Balanced & Macro ETF) helps solve the portfolio funding dilemma for Canadian investors.

Pierre Daillie and Mike Philbrick welcome Tony Dong—Lead ETF Analyst at ETF Central and founder of ETF Portfolio Blueprint— to the show to explore why investors may need to rethink their reliance on traditional portfolio diversifiers like long-term bonds. Dong pulls no punches, calling out the pitfalls of covered call ETFs, explaining how to think critically about buy-write strategies, and championing capital-efficient alternatives like return stacking, trend-following CTAs, and risk-managed overlays. The trio also dig into the strategic case for overlooked assets like Swiss equities and the Swiss franc, while sharing practical insights into investor behavior, rebalancing discipline, and building resilient portfolios in a stagflation-prone world. 🔖 Key Takeaways:

• Why blindly chasing high-yield covered call ETFs is a mistake
• The underrated power of trend-following as a crisis alpha tool
• How to use return stacking for smarter diversification
• Why Switzerland may be the ultimate geopolitical safe haven
• The behavioral traps investors fall into—and how to avoid them

00:00 – Tony Dong’s Risk-First Origin Story 03:45 – The Problem with Index-Based Covered Call ETFs 08:30 – Gold, Volatility, and Opportunistic Buy-Write Strategies 13:10 – QYLD: A Yield Trap in Disguise? 19:45 – When Bonds Fail: Gold and Trend as Alternatives 23:20 – Leveraging Diversification with Return Stacking 28:00 – Retail’s Dangerous Love Affair with Leveraged ETFs 31:40 – The Rise of Structured Protection: Put Spread Collars 36:20 – Why Low Vol and Min Vol May Be Broken Concepts 39:10 – Trend Following: The Case for Buying the Shop, Not the ETF 43:00 – Behavioral Risk and Staying the Course with Alternatives 47:30 – How to Rebalance for Real-World Portfolios 53:00 – Investor Psychology, Crisis Alpha, and Staying Invested 57:00 – The Case for Switzerland: Stability, Strength, and Sanity

Where to find Tony Dong

ETF Portfolio Blueprint - https://etfportfolioblueprint.com Tony Dong, Lead ETF Analyst, ETF Central - https://www.etfcentral.com/author/tony-dong

#InvestingStrategy #ETFs #TrendFollowing #ReturnStacking #PortfolioDiversification #CoveredCalls #QYLD #Alternatives #CapitalEfficient #Gold #BehavioralFinance #TonyDong #RaiseYourAverage

Canadian ETFs are booming—and behind the scenes, a quiet revolution is reshaping how advisors and investors build smarter, more efficient portfolios. In this episode, ETF industry leader Ronald Landry, Vice President, Head of Segment Solutions and Canadian ETF Services at CIBC Mellon joins us to explore what’s driving record ETF flows, the rise of covered calls and liquid alts, the accelerating evolution of Canada's ETF landscape, and the policy shifts that could transform the advisory business in 2025 and beyond. Landry shares over 30 years of industry insight, covering everything from:

• The two-year boom in covered call ETFs—and why yield remains king
• How alternative strategies are finally gaining traction after years of slow adoption
• New ETF-wrapped solutions making it easier than ever for advisors to close portfolio gaps
• The regulatory innovations (like total cost reporting and ticker rule proposals) that could reshape the advisor-client conversation
• Why Canada continues to lead global ETF innovation—and what the US is learning from our market

00:00 – The ETF Boom: Why 2025 Is Already One for the Record Books 02:00 – 30 Years of Insight: Ron Landry’s Unlikely Path to ETF Leadership 04:00 – Markets in Transition: What Record Q1 Flows Are Really Telling Us 08:00 – Central Banks in a Bind: Rates, Tariffs, and the Inflation Puzzle 09:30 – Single Stock ETFs, CDRs, and the Quest for Yield in Canada 12:00 – Built for Canadians: Why Homegrown ETFs Are Winning 14:00 – Crypto, Covered Calls, and the Real Drivers of Demand 16:00 – Alternatives Accelerating: The 53% Growth Story You Missed 19:00 – Advisors' Dilemma: Explaining Line Item Risk in a 60/40 World 21:00 – Regulation as Catalyst: CSA Reviews, Cost Transparency, and Ticker Labels 24:00 – From 6% to 20%: Canada’s ETF Market Is on a Tear 26:00 – The Rise of Dual-Structure Funds: ETF and Mutual Fund Hybrids 27:00 – Canada: The Quiet Giant of ETF Innovation 29:00 – One Rulebook to Rule Them All: The Secret to Canada’s ETF Advantage #ETFs #CanadianETFs #InvestingCanada #FinancialAdvisors #CoveredCalls #LiquidAlts #ETFInnovation #CIBCMellon #RonLandry #WealthManagement #PortfolioConstruction #FinancePodcast #InvestmentStrategies #YieldHunting

The most important tech story of the decade isn’t in Silicon Valley—it’s unfolding in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore. In Part 2 of our in-depth conversation, Kevin Carter, founder of EMQQ Global, reveals why India’s digital transformation, powered by the India Stack, is not only revolutionary—it’s investable. We dive deep into the megatrends fueling India’s internet economy, explore explosive business models like 10-minute delivery, and uncover why investors are missing one of the greatest untold tech stories of our time. As Kevin puts it: "There's no developed or emerging country with anything like this... and the world has no idea it exists." 👇 CHAPTERS 00:00 – India’s human capital and the reverse brain drain 02:00 – Startup boom: From 500 to 120,000 startups 05:00 – Modi’s economic machete and $1T infrastructure plan 08:00 – The three megatrends redefining emerging markets 10:00 – The India Stack explained: Aadhaar, UPI, and digital identity 14:00 – Opening 800M bank accounts in 10 years 18:00 – Geo and the $12 smartphone revolution 20:00 – UPI: 16B instant transactions a month 22:00 – The death of cash: 95% to 20% in 7 years 24:00 – The trillion-dollar secret the world doesn't know 27:00 – Quick Commerce: Blinkit, dark stores, and 10-minute delivery 34:00 – Zomato's ecosystem and disruption beyond food 39:00 – India’s small cap exuberance and retail options boom 43:00 – Companies to watch: MakeMyTrip, FirstCry, InfoEdge 46:00 – Kevin’s final thoughts: Throw out the old EM model

Where to find Kevin Carter, EMQQ Global

Kevin Carter on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thekevintcarter/ EMQQ Global - https://emqqglobaletfs.com/

#IndiaStack #EmergingMarkets #Fintech #DigitalIndia #UPI #Aadhaar #QuickCommerce #Blinkit #Zomato #EMQQ #KevinCarter #ModiEconomics #InvestInIndia #IndianStartups #DigitalTransformation #TechInvesting

🔥 You’ve heard of index funds… but what if the real revolution in investing started with fractional shares, a phone call to Dr. Burton Malkiel, and a vision for emerging markets that no one saw coming? In Part 1 of this fireside chat on Insight is Capital host Pierre Daillie sits down with Kevin Carter, Founder and CIO of EMQQ Global, for a wide-ranging conversation that spans Carter’s unplanned journey into finance, his pivotal role in the birth of fractional investing, AND direct indexing, and the origin story of EMQQ, the Emerging Markets Internet Index ETF. Carter recounts his early days reading A Random Walk Down Wall Street, cold-calling its author Dr. Burton Malkiel, and launching not one—but multiple investing platforms that have shaped how millions invest today. From building the “Build Your Own Fund” platform sold to ETRADE, to coining “Tax Alpha”, to launching ETFs that target the real growth in emerging markets (hint: it's not state-owned enterprises), this episode is a deep dive into innovation, conviction, and seeing around corners. 🎬 Chapters & Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro: Meet Kevin Carter, founder of EMQQ Global 01:30 – How a basketball chat led to a job on Wall Street 03:10 – Reading A Random Walk Down Wall Street—and calling its author 06:45 – Realizing the mutual fund industry is a 1.5% “wealth tax” 10:15 – Africa, a notebook, and the spark for fractional investing 13:00 – Creating eInvesting and pioneering Build Your Own Fund 16:20 – Cold-calling Dr. Burton Malkiel at Princeton 18:30 – Selling to ETRADE and the rise of direct indexing 22:00 – Custom indexing, ESG before ESG, and inventing “Tax Alpha” 28:00 – Avoiding over-diversification: Buffett vs. Bogle 33:00 – The Google connection and the call to invest in China 37:00 – The red flags inside traditional China ETFs 44:00 – Launching EMQQ to target the real consumer tech growth 49:00 – Smartphones, internet, and the leapfrog effect 55:00 – Why EMQQ and INQQ launched at the worst possible time 58:00 – The delisting drama, China tech crackdown, and investor fear 01:03:00 – EM growth vs. value traps—and why India is next This conversation continues in Part Two, where we dive into the "India Stack" and what it means for India's economic growth and tech/internet sector.

Where to find Kevin Carter, EMQQ Global

Kevin Carter on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thekevintcarter/ EMQQ Global - https://emqqglobaletfs.com/

#EMQQ #Investing#EmergingMarkets#ETFs#FractionalShares#Indexing#KevinCarter#ChinaTech#IndiaGrowth#SmartphoneRevolution#BurtonMalkiel#TaxAlpha#DirectIndexing#Vanguard#Buffett#FutureOfFinance#FinancialInnovation

Can one word from a U.S. president really move markets by 8% in two hours? Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas calls it the "Trump Put"—and that's just for starters.

In this episode, Raise Your Average hosts Pierre and Mike welcome back Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas, and co-host of Trillions, for a dynamic conversation that peels back the curtain on ETF flows, investor psychology, and the growing crossover between crypto and traditional finance. Balchunas unpacks the hidden narratives driving today's markets—from the surge in passive flows and rebalancing tailwinds, to the rise of “Vanguardians” and the Degens chasing leveraged plays. He also explores how mutual fund share classes, private credit, and public-private crossovers are changing the ETF landscape. With his signature humor and razor-sharp insight, Balchunas offers a front-row seat to the evolution of asset management.

00:00 – Intro and Eric Balchunas joins the show 03:00 – $333B ETF inflows and the "Vanguard clip" 05:45 – The divergence between retail flows and institutional positioning 07:00 – The "Trump Put" and the 8% rally on one word 08:30 – Degens, leveraged ETFs, and why people keep buying the dip 10:00 – Persistent love for U.S. stocks despite better international value 12:00 – Gold vs. Bitcoin: who's winning in 2025? 14:00 – Bitcoin's improving volatility profile and “better owners” 16:00 – Why Bitcoin ETFs are changing the game 18:30 – Cognitive dissonance: crypto purists vs. TradFi adoption 21:00 – Passive power, BlackRock conspiracies, and Bogle’s last stand 27:30 – ETF transparency vs. mutual fund mythology 30:00 – Mutual fund ETF share classes: game changer or Trojan horse? 34:00 – Private credit and public-private crossover ETFs 38:30 – Why XOVR’s SpaceX bet caught fire 40:00 – The veil lifts on private equity NAV “magic” 43:00 – Active ETFs: rebirth, reinvention, or just beta repackaged? 50:00 – The final frontier: alts, liquidity, and the ETF trust factor

#RaiseYourAverage #EricBalchunas #Bloomberg #ETFs #BitcoinETF #Vanguard #PrivateCredit #MutualFunds #TrumpPut #CryptoMarkets #GoldVsBitcoin #ETFFlows #InvestmentStrategy #MarketInsights Copyright © AdvisorAnalyst.com