The Mystery of Smart-Beta, Explained

Imagine R2D2 with the head of Peter Lynch.

Photographer: Kevin Winter/Getty Images 

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​​​​​​Smart-beta is one of the hottest trends in not just ETFs but all of investment management. Assets in the category have grown from $0 to almost $1 trillion in barely a decade. But what is it, exactly?

On this week’s Trillions, Joel and Eric explore the mysteries of smart-beta. To some, it's all a mutation of passive indexing; to others, it's a better, cheaper version of active management. “Imagine R2D2 with the head of Peter Lynch," says Eric.