Editor's Note
By Jim Wiandt

The View From Inside

How do we do it? The indexing hits just keep on coming. The theme for this issue - and I realize we may be reaching here - is financial indexes. And no one is more at the center of financial indexes and the products they spawn than John Brennan, CEO of the Vanguard Group. Mr. Brennan serves as the target for this issue's "straight talk" interview. The questions are hard-hitting, and some of his answers may surprise you. The discussion about the Macro ETFs has ranged from euphoric to apocalyptic, but has often lacked substance. Indeed, the media coverage on them has been universally, well, inept. Matt Hougan and I felt that the ideas were big enough, the structure complicated enough and the operational problems nettlesome enough for us both to really set the record straight. I think we've managed to do that this issue. Meanwhile, Dodd Kittsley makes the case for infrastructure as an asset class - an idea that has been gaining some headway among institutional investors. Anchoring the issue are two very meaty articles that break some new ground: David Blanchett looks at the effect of portfolio turnover on performance, and Craig Israelsen takes a wide-ranging look at how different indexes in the same asset classes perform (here's a hint: they are wildly different). Both articles, I think, are required reading. Closing out this issue, David Blitzer examines the February market drop and its potential utility as a reality check, while Brad Zigler brings us the latest installment of the Curmudgeon, making his pitch for baseball bonds … and I don't mean Barry. Of course, there's all the usual news and data, together with some choice plugs of our ever-expanding online empire at www.indexuniverse. com, which is now the best source both for index and ETF data and for updated bulletins ("ETF Watch") covering every ETF that is launched, trading and currently in registration at the SEC. So if these 56 pages of indexing fun aren't enough for you, come and visit us online.

Jim Wiandt
Editor