Fund.com - Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)

• Exchange traded funds are the most significant product development since money market funds in the 1970s with ETF asset growth approaching $800 billion.

• According to Barclays Global Investors, “Just about the only product to see net inflows in 2008 were Exchange Traded Funds."

• On a global basis: ETF net sales were US$ 187.5 billion; while net sales of mutual funds were minus US$256.7 billion

• In contrast, Hedge Funds for the first time in their 18-year history had significant outflows according to Hedge Fund Research (HFR).

• TrimTabs expects the outflows to be more than US$ 100 billion for all of 2008.

• According to the National Stock Exchange, ETFs represent $1.3 trillion in trading volume per month.

• Exchange-traded funds now represent 31 percent of all trading volume in the U.S. equities market, an indication of just how widespread the adoption of ETFs has become in the U.S.