RIGS

The amount of cash cycling through one of the world’s largest exchange-traded funds is turning heads across Wall Street.

Plenty on Wall Street fear the explosive growth of passive investing will eventually store up trouble for bond portfolios. An academic from the Swiss Finance Institute has found evidence it has already begun.

The weak trend in global trade and growth will not be enough to support risky assets such as equities in the coming months.The recent 10%+ consolidation in equities clearly shows how vulnerable is the market currently 'without' central banks and governments' help.Leading indicators such as South Korea exports not showing any sign of positive momentum for global equities in the near term.Global uncertainty and investors' fear will keep price volatility elevated for the rest of the year.

Actively managed ETFs are proliferating in numbers. What they aren't doing—as a group—is gathering many assets. Will they ever thrive? A year ago, we were asking the same question: When, if ever, will active ETFs take off?

RiverFront is the second- largest ETF strategist in the country today, with some $5.5 billion in assets under management. But the firm has been growing another footprint as well—that of subadvisor to a growing roster of ETFs offered by ALPS and First T...