What are ETF Investments?

You may have heard that ETF investments are a great option for potential investors. However, you may not have a clue what ETF means or what benefits it brings over other sorts of investment trading.

Well, the first thing you should know is that ETF stands for Exchange Traded Funds. These are baskets of securities that are traded as one. That probably still doesn't mean much to the trading novice. It helps in understanding investor strategies with ETFs if you use index mutual funds as a base.

Understanding Investor Strategies: ETF vs. Mutual Funds

Some of the differences between ETF investments and mutual funds that can affect your investor strategy are as follows:

  • Allowances for intra-day trading
  • Better tax efficiency vs. taxed mutual funds
  • Sometimes lower annual expenses
  • ETFs can be bought on margin
  • Subject to commissions
  • Requires a lot of wealth to invest

Read on for a more in-depth look at the understanding investor strategies and the advantages and disadvantages of trading Exchange Traded Funds.

Your Investor Strategy: Add ETFs?

Despite what you might have heard about ETF, you should be aware that in most cases they will not out perform mutual funds. The biggest problem associated with Exchange Traded Funds is that they are subject to commissions, which can significantly add to the costs of trading these funds. Since you can invest directly in mutual funds without a middleman, the savings on commissions can be huge.

Generally, ETF is only worth considering as part of you investor strategy if you're investing a large sum of money all at once in a taxable asset. For aggressive investors using a market timing tactic, ETFs can also be attractive as they allow intra-day trading. Understanding investor strategies on an advanced level is necessary before you attempt this sort of plan, however.

 
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