Exchange-traded Note - Pros and Cons of ETNs - Advantages - Tax Efficiency

Tax Efficiency

An ETN offers a tax-efficient way to invest. It is treated as a prepaid contract (such as a forward contract) for tax purposes. The buyer of a prepaid contract pays an initial amount in order to receive a future payment based on the value of an index or other underlying benchmark at a specified future time.

Very often index mutual funds and ETFs are required to make yearly income and capital gains distributions to its fund holders that are taxable. When a fund is forced to sell stock to rebalance or otherwise change its composition, the fund holders have to pay any resulting capital gains tax.

With ETNs, in contrast, there is no interest payment or dividend distribution, which means there is no annual tax. Capital gain (or loss) is realized when an investor sells the ETN or it matures. Long-term capital gains are treated more favorably than short-term capital gains and interest in the US (> 1 year holdings are taxed at a capital gains rate of 15%). There is no way to avoid paying capital gains tax, but there can be great advantage in wealth building by delaying it.

Recent tax rulings have suggested that ETNs may be qualified tax shelters for the purpose of changing current interest income into deferred capital gains income.