An overview of exchange-traded funds and mutual funds
Two common pieces of financial advice, which few people follow, are having a diversified portfolio and investing in stocks. Only about 17% of people in the country listed stocks as the ideal way to invest money they don’t need for a while, whereas 30% cited real estate, and 23% preferred investments in cash. Research shows that stocks fair much better in comparison to cash investments as well as real estate. Investing in stocks may be a little confusion as compared to buying a house or saving cash in the bank. However, there are two ways to invest as well as diversify your portfolio, namely, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds.

Below is some information to help you understand ETFs as well as mutual funds, the benefits, and more.

What are ETFs?

• Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are a pre-selected collection of bonds and funds that you can buy or sell through a brokerage firm on a stock exchange.
• An ETF trades like a common stock on a stock exchange, which is in contrast to the traditional mutual funds .
• As the ETFs are bought and sold, they undergo price changes throughout the day.
• This type of funds own assets, such as bonds, oil futures, shares of stock, gold bars, foreign currency, etc., and divide ownership of these assets into shares.
• A mechanism known as creation and redemption regulates the supply of ETF shares. The process of this mechanism involves large specialized investors, also known as authorized participants (APs). These APs are large financial institutions having high buying power.
• Both the ETF and its assets are tradeable throughout the day, so its price remains close to its fair value.

What are the advantages of ETFs?

• One of the biggest advantages of an ETF is the fact that you can buy or sell it at any time of the day.
• In comparison to other managed funds, ETFs have much lower expense ratios and there is no sale load.
• ETFs are more tax efficient.
• As these are traded like stocks, investors have the freedom to place a variety of orders, such as stop-loss orders, limit orders, or buy on margin.

What are the disadvantages of ETF’S?

• Trading cost is one of the drawbacks of an ETF.
• Tracking error is another prominent disadvantage. Due to liquidity issues, no ETF can completely replicate its underlying index.
• The small size of an ETF also sometimes becomes a disadvantage, as it increases the possibility of a tracking error.

What are mutual funds?

• A mutual fund is a collective pool of money invested in various securities.
• Every shareholder or investor benefits or loses in equal proportions and the expenses are also shared equally.
• The risk involved is lower than individual stocks or bonds, as the funds are diversified between bonds, stocks, and other securities.

What are the benefits of investing in mutual funds?

• Easy- Investing in mutual funds is easy, as you don’t require spending a great deal of time to research the stocks and bonds available. All you need to know is your investment objective, which includes the number of years of investment and the amount of risk you are willing to take.
• Professional management- Whether you search for the 10 best mutual funds or simply invest in the one that you happen to find first, you are still going to benefit. This is because all the mutual funds are professionally managed. You need not worry, as a skilled money manager does it all for you.
• Diversified investments- Market risk is reduced as mutual funds help in creating a diversified portfolio. Within one portfolio, most of these funds invest in hundreds of stocks or bonds.
• Cheaper- The investor is usually responsible for a one-time low expense and the mutual fund manager then maintains the mutual fund portfolio. Therefore, mutual funds are cheaper to invest in and manage.

Which is better—ETFs or mutual funds?

• There is no answer to this question, as both the investment options have their fair share of benefits and drawbacks.
• In addition to this, the worth of any investment option depends on the individual investment strategy of an investor.
• Nevertheless, ETFs are gaining a lot of attention in the investment market and are a tough competition to mutual funds.
• On the other hand, mutual funds are still the best option for those seeking variety. The chief advantage of mutual funds is variety, which ETFs lack. An unlimited number of mutual funds are available for all different types of investment strategies.