Trend: The 40% increase in assets invested in ETFs in 2006 indicate the growing awareness of investors in the value of ETFs and the expansion of ETF products to new markets.
Ian Salisbury at Dow Jones Newswires provides some statistics about ETFs.
Link: Company News Story
Assets invested in exchange-traded funds rose 40% to $ 422.5 billion at the end of last year from $300.8 billion in December 2005, buoyed by the investment vehicle's growing popularity and a strong performance by the stock market.
Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, are baskets of stocks, fixed-income securities, or other assets that trade like individual stocks. ETFs are often touted for their low costs, tax efficiency and the instant diversification they bring.
There were a total of 357 ETFs at the end of December, of which 266 tracked domestic stock indexes with assets of $290.8 billion; 85 ETFs tracked international equity indexes with assets of $111.2 billion; and six tracked bond indexes with assets of $20.5 billion.
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