Image for Introduction to Anatomy of an Exchange-Traded Fund

Introduction to Anatomy of an Exchange-Traded Fund

(1 of 4)

This short tutorial delves a little into some buying and selling factors of exchange-traded funds.

What you will learn

  • Anatomy of an Exchange-Traded Fund: Buying and Selling
  • Anatomy of an Exchange-Traded Fund: Variety

What do you know?

Introduction to Anatomy of an Exchange-Traded Fund

At the most basic level, exchange-traded funds are just what their name implies: baskets of securities that, like individual stocks, are bought and sold on an exchange. In most cases, the basket of securities tracks an index, such as the large-cap S&P 500, the small-cap Russell 2000, or any number of other equity or fixed income indices. ETFs can also track the performance of commodities, hedge funds, or other alternative indices. While ETFs often look similar to index mutual funds, there are some important differences in their structure.