Inside ETFs
How ETFs actually work — from share class relief to creation units to 351 exchanges.
ETFs are the most important investment vehicle of the last 30 years, but very few investors understand how they actually work. This series opens the hood: how funds come to market, how authorized participants keep prices in line, how share class exemptive relief is reshaping the industry, and how to use 351 exchanges to diversify tax-efficiently.
- 1Ep. 95Apr 11, 2023
What Is Direct Indexing?
As consumers, we’ve come to expect customization and personalization with most things these days, whether it’s our coffee order, streaming preferences, or insurance policies…So why should our investments be any different?
- 2Ep. 187Jan 15, 2025
How Direct Indexing Could Save You Money On Taxes With Adam Cmejla
In this episode of The Long Term Investor, I’m thrilled to bring you a recent conversation I had with my friend Adam Cmejla, CFP®, and host of 20/20 MONEY, on the evolution of investing and why direct indexing is changing the game.
- 3Ep. 219Aug 27, 2025
Mutual Funds vs ETFs vs SMAs: Which is the Best For You?
We’ve all been to a lively dinner with a dozen friends where the conversation bounces from one end of the table to the other, glasses clink, and everyone seems to be ordering with reckless abandon.
- 4Ep. 225Oct 8, 2025
Trapped By Taxes? How 351 Exchanges Let You Diversify Without Selling Your Stock
If there’s one topic I’ve talked about more than anything else this year — with clients, with other advisors, and on stage at conferences — it’s 351 exchanges.
- 5Ep. 232Nov 26, 2025
The Latest Innovation in ETFs and Mutual Funds: Share Class Exemptive Relief, Explained — with Marlena Lee
Today I’m joined by Marlena Lee, Global Head of Investor Solutions at Dimensional Fund Advisors, to unpack a significant development: ETF share class exemptive relief.
- 6Ep. 233Dec 3, 2025
What Is The Market Portfolio—And How Should It Influence How We Invest?
If you’ve been here for awhile, you’ve heard me talk about the market portfolio quite a bit.
- 7Ep. 234Dec 10, 2025
Index vs Factor Investing
If you ask most baseball fans what makes a great fastball, the first answer you’ll hear is speed. And for a long time, that was the only answer. A fastball was great if it looked fast, if it sounded fast, if hitters swung through it with that late, helpless flinch that told scouts everything they needed to know. Before technology entered the game, velocity wasn’t measured so much as admired. Scouts sat behind home plate, squinted, and declared a pitch “explosive,” “heavy,” or “rising.” And that was the extent of the analysis.
- 8Ep. 245Feb 25, 2026
How ETFs Come to Market: From Idea to Ticker
This is the first installment of a three-episode series on ETFs—and how their behind-the-scenes mechanics make many things possible that can’t be achieved in mutual funds and other wrappers.
- 9Ep. 246Mar 4, 2026
The Hidden Mechanics of ETFs: APs, Creation Units, and Pricing
This is the second episode in a three-part series on ETFs. In our last episode, we focused on how an ETF comes to market. This episode is about what happens after that. Most people don’t think about these mechanics until something feels off, but understanding how ETFs work under the hood makes it easier to identify good opportunities as well as situations you’d rather avoid.
- 10Ep. 247Mar 11, 2026
How to Evaluate an ETF for a 351 Exchange: The Checklist to Get It Right
This is the third and final episode in my three-part series on ETFs. And I want to start by telling you why I did this series in the first place.
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