Finally, the real story is starting to come out! Vanguard is attempting a backroom political kill of Barclays' new innovation that threatens to peel away a few shekels of its $1 trillion AUM. At the same time, the financial giant cowers timidly behind the protective skirt of Paul Schott Stevens' politically-connected ICI machine.
But something went awry. Paul Stevens "over-Schott" (pun intended) his manipulation of the Treasury and went after the taxation of ALL prepaid forwards. Whoopsie-daisy. This means that Vanguard's surreptitious attempt at a quick kill of ETNs has now morphed into an out-of-control clash of King Kong vs Godzilla -- namely, Wall Street vs. the Mutual Fund Industry.
But this was not a fight the mutual fund industry was spoiling for . . . they were content to have their $14 trillion monopoly and simply let the ETN industry grow their modest $10 billion cottage industry to, say, double its size. But leave it to the ICI to ham-handedly blow up this affair into a major commotion, complete with raising the retail profile of a modest little innovation called Exchange Traded Notes.
Way to go, ICI -- you guys pay Paul Schott Stevens a million bucks a year to screw the pooch when it comes to the final legacy of Jack Bogle? See you on the cover of Barrons soon!
Finally, the real story is starting to come out! Vanguard is attempting a backroom political kill of Barclays' new innovation that threatens to peel away a few shekels of its $1 trillion AUM. At the same time, the financial giant cowers timidly behind the protective skirt of Paul Schott Stevens' politically-connected ICI machine.
But something went awry. Paul Stevens "over-Schott" (pun intended) his manipulation of the Treasury and went after the taxation of ALL prepaid forwards. Whoopsie-daisy. This means that Vanguard's surreptitious attempt at a quick kill of ETNs has now morphed into an out-of-control clash of King Kong vs Godzilla -- namely, Wall Street vs. the Mutual Fund Industry.
But this was not a fight the mutual fund industry was spoiling for . . . they were content to have their $14 trillion monopoly and simply let the ETN industry grow their modest $10 billion cottage industry to, say, double its size. But leave it to the ICI to ham-handedly blow up this affair into a major commotion, complete with raising the retail profile of a modest little innovation called Exchange Traded Notes.
Way to go, ICI -- you guys pay Paul Schott Stevens a million bucks a year to screw the pooch when it comes to the final legacy of Jack Bogle? See you on the cover of Barrons soon!