At Envestnet Elevate 2025, Jeff Cullen makes the case for active ETFs, global dividends, and value investing as essential tools for advisors aiming to build resilient, income-generating portfolios in a volatile and fast-changing market.
One of the biggest behavioral challenges in investing is the tendency for investors to focus on individual holdings rather than evaluating their portfolio as a whole. This phenomenon, known as line-item bias, can lead to premature selling of diversifying investments simply because they underperform traditional stock and bond allocations in certain periods.
By targeting companies that demonstrate both strong price performance and solid fundamentals, WLTG offers investors a disciplined and innovative strategy for navigating today’s dynamic markets. Its blend of proven quantitative methods and advanced AI technology positions it as a compelling option for those seeking superior returns.
The Principal PIEQ ETF takes a focused approach to international investing with about 30 high-conviction stocks selected from over 2,500 global securities. By prioritizing companies with underestimated free cash flow growth and leveraging global sector expertise rather than country allocations, PIEQ aims to outperform passive benchmarks. The strategy combines attractive valuation with growth potential, offering advisors a disciplined yet opportunistic vehicle for international exposure beyond typical index investing.
For decades, institutional investors have used portable alpha strategies to improve diversification and enhance risk-adjusted returns. These strategies allow investors to maintain full market exposure while layering additional, uncorrelated return streams on top. Historically, portable alpha was difficult for individual investors to implement.
Periods of high volatility are testing traditional portfolios—and client patience. Hull Tactical’s HTUS ETF offers advisors a systematic, data-driven alternative built for speed, discipline, and adaptability. With daily repositioning, AI-powered insights, and a unique blend of tactical exposure and income generation, HTUS could be the core replacement advisors need to deliver clarity in chaotic markets.
The Return Stacked® Bond and Merger Arbitrage ETF (RSBA) offers a novel solution to fixed income diversification through Return Stacking, allowing investors to maintain Treasuries exposure while capturing merger-arbitrage returns. This innovative approach eliminates the traditional trade-off of selling existing positions to add alternative strategies. In an environment of tight credit spreads, RSBA provides advisors a sophisticated tool to enhance portfolios without disrupting core allocations or client comfort levels.
