Friday 20 February 2009

Will ETFs Replace Mutual Funds?

Despite a difficult market environment, exchange-traded funds are continuing to grow.

Investors worldwide poured $268 billion into ETFs last year, pushing total assets to roughly $730 billion at the end of 2008, according to a new report by Strategic Insight, a New York fund research and data firm. Assets worldwide are expected to hit $1 trillion in two years.

Much of that growth will be driven by broader acceptance of these investment vehicles, which resemble traditional index mutual funds but trade throughout the day like stocks. While institutions are already big users of ETFs, individual investors and financial advisers are increasingly turning to them to gain exposure to specific asset classes and to hedge their portfolios.

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