No Load Mutual Funds or Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)?
No Load Mutual Funds or Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)?
If you are fed up with early redemption charges and ever increasing mutual fund management fees on top of bad-performing fund managers, read on. There is a quiet revolution going on in the no-load mutual fund industry and you, the individual investor, may benefit from it greatly.
I am referring to Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), which have been around for some years, but have grown tremendously since their inception. There are currently various choices with substantial amount in assets.
In a nutshell, an ETF is a specific kind of no-entry load mutual fund that you might consider to be a basket of stocks. ETFs are diversified like mutual funds, only they trade like stocks. They are cheap to trade and don’t hit you with any short-term redemption fees. And they offer investing opportunities across the board.
In addition to inexpensive trades and no short-term redemption fees, how else can ETFs save you money vs. no load mutual funds? One way is on their annual management fees.
So, if these ETFs are so great, why hasn’t your broker or financial planner recommended them to you? Simple! Brokers, and those advisors working on commissions, don’t make money on ETFs; no commissions up front or hidden on the back end. It's simply not in their interest to promote them.
With all the positives for the investor, there is one disadvantage, which may not be applicable to you unless you are a hot shot, no load mutual fund picker. It is that in any given economic environment really super performing mutual funds can outperform the indexes, but an ETF can never outperform the index it’s tied to. You would need to look at your own investment record to know whether this is a downside for you.
If you’re fortunate enough to make a superior selection you will outperform an ETF. Of course, that presumes you picked a very successful fund as compared to only a moderately successful ETF.
A word of caution! Just because ETFs are cheap and easy to buy doesn’t mean they will guarantee you a profit. You can lose money with them just as easily as you do with no-load mutual funds. You still need to make sure you have a disciplined methodology in place to help you get into and out of the market. If you don’t, you’re gambling no matter what you invest in.
Hopefully these insights into ETFs will broaden your perspective on ways you can prosper in your investments.
© N.M. Finserv ---- www.nmcomp.com/finserv
December 2004
If you are fed up with early redemption charges and ever increasing mutual fund management fees on top of bad-performing fund managers, read on. There is a quiet revolution going on in the no-load mutual fund industry and you, the individual investor, may benefit from it greatly.
I am referring to Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), which have been around for some years, but have grown tremendously since their inception. There are currently various choices with substantial amount in assets.
In a nutshell, an ETF is a specific kind of no-entry load mutual fund that you might consider to be a basket of stocks. ETFs are diversified like mutual funds, only they trade like stocks. They are cheap to trade and don’t hit you with any short-term redemption fees. And they offer investing opportunities across the board.
In addition to inexpensive trades and no short-term redemption fees, how else can ETFs save you money vs. no load mutual funds? One way is on their annual management fees.
So, if these ETFs are so great, why hasn’t your broker or financial planner recommended them to you? Simple! Brokers, and those advisors working on commissions, don’t make money on ETFs; no commissions up front or hidden on the back end. It's simply not in their interest to promote them.
With all the positives for the investor, there is one disadvantage, which may not be applicable to you unless you are a hot shot, no load mutual fund picker. It is that in any given economic environment really super performing mutual funds can outperform the indexes, but an ETF can never outperform the index it’s tied to. You would need to look at your own investment record to know whether this is a downside for you.
If you’re fortunate enough to make a superior selection you will outperform an ETF. Of course, that presumes you picked a very successful fund as compared to only a moderately successful ETF.
A word of caution! Just because ETFs are cheap and easy to buy doesn’t mean they will guarantee you a profit. You can lose money with them just as easily as you do with no-load mutual funds. You still need to make sure you have a disciplined methodology in place to help you get into and out of the market. If you don’t, you’re gambling no matter what you invest in.
Hopefully these insights into ETFs will broaden your perspective on ways you can prosper in your investments.
© N.M. Finserv ---- www.nmcomp.com/finserv
December 2004
posted by N.M. Finserv at
2:30 PM
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