Author: Matt Thalman

One ETF Betting On High Customer Satisfaction

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - ETFs -ETF Betting High Customer Satisfaction


The American Customer Satisfaction ETF (ACSI) is an Exchange Traded Fund that is built around the idea that companies who have high customer satisfaction, will perform well in the long run, and here is a hint, but there is a lot of evidence to prove this thinking right.

Let's review some of this evidence before we go any further.

  • According to a 2011 American Express Survey, 78% of consumers have bailed on a transaction or not made an intended purchase because of poor service experience.
  • According to a White House Office of Consumer Affairs report, on average, loyal customers are worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase.
  • Marketing Metrics reports tells us that you have a 5-20% probability of selling to a new prospect but a 60-70% probability of selling to an existing customer.
  • “Understanding Customers” by Ruby Newell-Legner says it takes 12 positive experiences to make up for one unresolved negative experience.
  • According to a White House Office of Consumer Affairs report, It is 6-7 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to keep a current one.
  • According to a 2011 American Express Survey, 3 in 5 Americans (59%) would try a new brand or company for the better service experience.
  • According to a White House Office of Consumer Affairs report, News of lousy customer service reaches more than twice as many ears as praise for the good customer service experience.
  • According to a 2011 American Express Survey, in 2011, 7 in 10 Americans said they were willing to spend more with companies they believe provide excellent customer service.
  • According to Lee Resources, 91% of unhappy customers will not willingly do business with you again.
  • A report from the Customer Experience Impact Report by Harris Interactive/RightNow, 2010, found almost 9 out of 10 U.S. consumers say they would pay more to ensure a superior customer experience.

The list could go on and on, but I think you are getting the point. Now think about the list above and think about this list of companies; Amazon.com Inc (AMZN), Apple Inc (AAPL), Vonage Holdings Corp (VG), Alphabet Inc (GOOG), Humana Inc (HUM), FedEx Corp (FDX), JetBlue Airways Corp (JBLU), The Hershey Co (HSY), Coca-Cola Co (KO). Continue reading "One ETF Betting On High Customer Satisfaction" →

Invest Alongside The Pros With These ETFs

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - Exchange Traded Funds ETFs


As the popularity of Exchange Traded Funds has grown with investors, so have the options investors have when it comes to the type and style of ETF they want to own. Not only can an ETF investor buy specific asset class ETFs, but they can buy ETFs designed by specific investors.

Just like how different asset classes have different risks, different investors have different beliefs about what makes a good stock. Each investor, professional or retail, has different metrics they look at, have different investment timeframes, have different investment goals, and just approach the market and investing in a different manner. These differences often make one investor successful while another fail. Following alongside well known, successful investors can help teach you what works and perhaps what you have been missing in the past.

So even if you decide not to buy an ETF that is based on your favorite investor, at least take a look at it, you may learn something. With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few ETFs I have found that track the pro’s, and see what we can learn. Continue reading "Invest Alongside The Pros With These ETFs" →

Socially Responsible Investing Isn't Cut and Dry

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - ETFs - Socially Responsible Investing


When it comes to investing in socially responsible companies, a lot depends on what values and principles you hold in high regard when you are trying to find the right fund for you.

Socially responsible or ethical investing encompasses a wide range of sub-sectors which you need to sift through before just jumping into an “ethically responsible” fund. For example, there are environmentally focused funds, funds that concentrate their efforts on finding companies who have sound corporate governance policies, others that look at the impact a business has on society as a whole, and this is just to name a few.

One fund that may be “ethical” and may not be would be the Inspire Global Hope Large-Cap ETF (BLES). The fund tries to find companies which the fund manager believes to line-up with “biblical values” and even has a proprietary scoring system which measures a company’s level of participation in abortion, gambling, alcohol, pornography, “the LGBT lifestyle,” just to name some of the big topics. But while some people may find some “biblical-values” ethical, others may not find them to be, one, in particular, being the “LGBT lifestyle” metric. Continue reading "Socially Responsible Investing Isn't Cut and Dry" →

Trump Tweets Create Opportunity for Investors

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - ETFs


When Donald Trump goes to Twitter Inc. (TWTR) to voice his negative opinions, investors should begin trying to find opportunities. Over just the past few weeks we have seen two separate occasions in particular in which the President of the United States has directed negative tweets at specific industries or companies. In both cases, first with Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and more recently with The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), his tweets have sent asset prices lower for a short period, before they have recovered, opening up big opportunities for investors.

Amazon

The end of March, beginning of April, Donald Trump assaulted Amazon with some tweets. First, it was that the company paid little to no state and local government taxes and then it was that the e-commerce company was a ‘scam’ which costs the US Post Office and therefore the American people, billions of dollars a year. Another string of tweets pointed the finger at Amazon claiming it was the reason thousands of retailers were going out of business, and millions of US workers had been laid off.

The tweets from Trump sent Amazon shares lower each day he would reignite his attack on the e-commerce giant. A 1-month chart of Amazon shows how the stock fell during the Presidents attacks and has since recovered.

Trump Tweets
From Yahoo Finance

Despite the fact that the President attacked Amazon and no real solution has come from the issues he pointed out, Amazon’s recovery appears to be nearly complete. This is not to say that the problems with Amazon not paying taxes or its contract with the Post Office couldn’t be reignited again in the future. But as most analysts have noted, the Presidents threats and claims against Amazon have no real teeth. Continue reading "Trump Tweets Create Opportunity for Investors" →

Facebook's Decline Has Hurt These ETFs

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Matt Thalman - INO.com Contributor - ETFs - Facebook


When a major company such as Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) is caught in a scandal, the declining share price doesn’t just hurt investors who knowingly bought shares of the company. It also hurts all those unsuspecting shareholders who may own part of the company through different Exchange Traded Funds.

On March 16th, shares of Facebook were trading at $185.09. The news broke that 50 million customers had their data taken from Facebook by a company called Cambridge Analytica and used to persuade American’s to vote for President Donald Trump. By March 27th Facebook shares had bottomed out at $152, a nearly 18% decline from the day before the story broke. As of this writing, shares of the social media giant have recovered a little, and now they trade at $160 per share, still a 13.5% decline.

Anyone that knowingly owned shares of Facebook before this story breaking has decided to either ride this rough patch out or jumped ship. But, some investors own shares of Facebook and have likely taken a beating because of the situation and may not even have known what was causing their portfolios to fall. Continue reading "Facebook's Decline Has Hurt These ETFs" →