Tax Loss Harvesting: Where the Asset Classes Stack Up in 2015

As the end of the year approaches, many investors review the performance of their portfolio holdings for opportunities for tax loss harvesting – the process of selling securities at a loss to offset securities that have been sold at a gain. This process can potentially lead to beneficial tax efficiencies as losses and gains are netted at the end of the year.

In addition to the potential tax benefits of harvesting losses, it also can give investors an opportunity to switch to new strategies in the same asset class with lower fees or smarter investment approaches.

Below is a breakdown of the year to date returns for a variety of benchmark indexes spanning multiple asset classes. Benchmarks with more negative returns are good indications of areas in a portfolio where there may be opportunities for tax loss harvesting.

Given the selloffs in emerging markets and MLPs this year, consider switching existing emerging market exposures to the Global X Next Emerging & Frontier ETF (EMFM) which provides access to among the fastest growing countries in the world, as well as the Global X MLP ETF (MLPA), the lowest management fee MLP ETF in the US1.

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