Trillions

There's the Spy Kids and then there's the SPY Kids, aka the 11 millennials that unwittingly control the fate of the world's largest and most traded ETF.The $250 billion SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust is pinned to their longevity, thanks to a quirk in the archane legal structure used by some early ETFs. Like other unit investment trusts, SPY has a set termination date and will expire in 2118, or 20 years after the last of these twenty-somethings die.On this episode of Trillions, Joel, Eric and Bloomberg News reporter Rachel Evans track down three of the SPY kids to discuss their connection to the birth of ETFs, their newfound fame -- and why they wish there was some money in it for them. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You know ETFs have gone mainstream when there are multiple TV shows about them, including Bloomberg’s own ETF IQ. Nearing its 100th episode, the show is co-hosted by veteran Bloomberg TV anchor Scarlet Fu and Eric. On this episode of Trillions, Scarlet and Eric take Joel behind-the-scenes of the fast-paced show, pick some of their favorite moments with noteworthy guests, and also deconstruct a few lessons from the ever-evolving ETF industry.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A number of high-profile companies have gone public this year -- Lyft, Uber, Beyond Meat, Slack, and Zoom, to name just a few. Yet these new entrants into the public markets aren't included in major indexes at their launch, limiting most investors' exposure to the companies' early trading. While investors can always buy individual stocks, a few ETFs specialize in a catch-and-release strategy of buying companies that have recently listed and then holding them for only a few years -- and they have a history of outperforming their benchmarks. Gina Martin Adams of Bloomberg Intelligence and Carolina Wilson of Bloomberg News join Eric and Joel to discuss the recent flurry in IPO activity and what the holdings of these ETFs can bring to a portfolio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cathie Wood, founder of ARK Invest, is a successful stock picker in the era of passive. Her actively managed ETFs, which focus entirely on disruptive themes, have overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to find success both in returns and flows. Her bold calls, high conviction and transparent approach has attracted fans and investors -- along with some haters. On this episode of Trillions, Cathie and Rachel Evans of Bloomberg News join Joel and Eric to discuss her approach to picking stocks, identifying disruptive companies and the importance of thinking outside the box. We also explore the risks of being in such a high conviction, high active share ETF. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the second quarter comes to a close, Trillions reflects on some of the interesting trends and takeaways that have emerged so far this year -- and also explores a few things that may yet come to pass. Joel and Eric are joined by Todd Rosenbluth, ETF analyst for CFRA, and Sarah Ponczek, an ETF and markets reporter for Bloomberg News and co-host of the new What Goes Up podcast. Topics discussed by the group include fixed-income ETFs, sectors, new launches, ESG, marijuana, the non-transparent active ETF model, Michigan sports, Tom Hanks, and Family Ties. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leverage and inverse ETFs are the bad boys of the ETF world - akin to Rated R movies or power tools. In the hands of a trained trader they can be helpful and precise. In the hands of a novice they can cut your hand off.  We speak with Sylvia Jablonski of Direxion, the maker of 3x ETFs about her mission to “democratize leverage.” We also demystify these sometimes demonized products and breakdown how they work, what they hold, who should and shouldn’t use them and some of the products that see the most action.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do investors value freedom? And do they really know what they're buying with emerging markets ETFs? Yes to the first, says Perth Tolle, who just launched a new freedom-weighted ETF -- and no to the second. Tolle, who grew up in China before leaving to study abroad, wanted to create a way to invest that aligned with freedom, so she created her own quantative index that recently became the Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF (FRDM). China, Saudi Arabia, and Russia are excluded; Taiwan, South Korea, and Chile are among those included and weighted according to Tolle's index. Eric and Joel interview Perth about her personal journey, what it takes to bring an ETF to market, and why she believes freedom is such a good investment thesis.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If ETFs had a Mount Rushmore, QQQ (aka 'The Qs') would definitely be on it. This $72 billion legend of an ETF just turned 20 years old and is now the second most traded security in the world. But how much do investors really know about it?  On this week’s Trillions Carolina Wilson of Bloomberg News sets out to the Midwest with microphone in hand to talk to those who built the original index and the ETF as well as tracked its changes over the years. Her journey lead to some interesting discoveries as well as a trip to the Chicago zoo, where she actually got a lion to roar. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

These days about one in three bites of food you eat wouldn’t be possible without commercial bee pollination. And the economic value of insect pollination worldwide is estimated to be about $217 billion. But as important as bees have become for farming, there’s also increasing signs that bees are in trouble. In the decade-plus since the first cases of Colony Collapse Disorder were reported, bees are still dying in record numbers, and important questions remain unanswered. On this new miniseries, host Adam Allington and environment reporters David Schultz and Tiffany Stecker travel to all corners of the honeybee ecosystem from Washington, D.C., to the California almond fields, and orchards of the upper Midwest to find answers to these questions.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While ETFs play an increasingly large role in U.S. financial markets, they're still in their infancy in Europe. The continent has regional markets, which has led to substantial fragmentation -- think a lot of products but not yet a lot of assets. Tom Psarofagis, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence who's now based in London, joins Eric and Joel to discuss how ETFs in Europe are "the same but different." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.