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1.
Exchange-traded funds _______ make capital-gains distributions.
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Do. They simply do so less often than mutual funds do.
2.
In what circumstance would an ETF investor wind up paying more by using an ETF than by investing in an open-end mutual fund, even if the ETFs expense ratio were lower?
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The investor regularly invests small sums of money in an ETF. Investors pay a brokerage commission each time they buy and sell an ETF, so their costs mount with each trade. Commissions can add up quickly, so if with periodic investments over time, investors overall costs could be lower with a no-load mutual fund. Industry-specific and index ETFs still would be cheaper than an open-end mutual fund if the ETF had a lower expense ratio. And the size of the ETF provider does not matter as much as the stated expense ratio.
3.
What is the best way for an investor to invest in a highly focused ETF?
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To be contrarian, and to not chase whats been hot recently. The ETF universe has literally hundreds of ETFs that focus on a single market sector, industry or geographic region. However, too often, by the time a hot-performing market segment catches investors eyes, that segment is about to cool down -- at least, in the short term. Unfortunately, investors often pursue those corners of the market at precisely the wrong time. As a result, investors should not necessarily invest in focused ETFs that have attracted significant recent investor interest.
4.
What kind of investor probably should choose a more expensive open-end mutual fund over an ETF?
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A small investor who invests regular sums of money. Small investors who invest regular sums of money are exposed to high transaction costs in the form of regular brokerage fees. These transaction costs usually eat into investors overall performance. As a result, investors who invest regular sums of money probably are better off going with an open-end mutual fund, even if its price tag is higher. Day traders may still be better served with ETFs, given ETFs stock-like qualities and given the fact that day traders move in and out of positions throughout the day. At the same time, day traders are at risk of incurring high transaction costs as well, although we assume that day traders frequent moves can generate returns that cover those transaction costs and the high short-term capital gains rates.
5.
Why are ETFs expense ratios generally lower than those of open-end mutual funds?
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All of the above. ETFs indeed can and do passively track the performance of virtually any kind of index, with very few actively managed ETFs currently trading. ETF providers also dont have to manage hundreds of separate customer accounts or need to staff call centers, and they dont need to pay active portfolio managers the large salaries that mutual fund companies do. Finally, ETFs do indeed trade on an exchange, meaning that transactions occur directly between investors.