What is an ETF?
Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are index funds or trusts that are listed on an exchange and can be traded in a similar fashion as a single equity. Today, the number of ETFs that trade options continues to grow and diversify.
Why trade with BBY eBridge Trader?
Exchange Traded Funds offer a broad and diversified exposure to an array of securities making them ideal for diversifying your investment portfolio.
Our free training platform - A good place to start
A good place to start is by registering and downloading a BBY eBridge Trader practice account.
Why Trade with BBY eBridge Trader
Exchange Traded Funds/Index Funds
Exchange Traded Funds offer a broad and diversified exposure to an array of securities making them ideal for diversifying your investment portfolio.
Trading ETFs online gives investors a straightforward, low cost and flexible way to access stock markets.
ETF investing with BBY eBridge Trader
- Invest in entire financial markets with the simplicity of stock trading for instant investment diversification
- Lower management fees than traditional managed funds
- Easy access
- Intraday liquidity
- Benefit from a full range of market, limit and stop orders
- Bought and sold through major stock exchanges like stocks
- Linked to major market indexes
- Suits both shorter term investors looking to hedge or longer term investors that wants to diversify
ETFs currently hold over $500 billion in assets. According to Morgan Stanley this number is expected to quadruple in 5 years, to $2 trillion.
The tremendous success of ETFs over the last decade is testimony to the fact that institutional and individual investors feel increasingly comfortable using these vehicles, recognising them as a valuable addition to securities markets. ETFs today are widely used by investment professionals, pension funds, hedge fund managers, arbitrageurs, traders, market makers, financial planners and individual investors alike.
Direct Fund Access
BBY eBridge Trader allows you to invest in ETFs the same way as you would invest in stocks by providing direct access to:
- 5 major asset classes
- 15+ fund providers
- 20+ fund sectors
- 9 major stock exchanges offering ETFs
- 300+ individual ETFs
What is an ETF?
What are Exchange Traded Funds?
Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are index funds or trusts that are listed on an exchange and can be traded in a similar fashion as a single equity. Today, the number of ETFs that trade options continues to grow and diversify. Investors can buy or sell shares in the collective performance of an entire stock portfolio, or a bond portfolio, as a single security. Exchange traded funds allow some of the more favourable features of stock trading, such as liquidity and ease of equity style features to more traditional index investing.
The basics of Indexing using ETFs
An index is a collection of securities intended to represent a given market or market segment. An index can be as broad as the entire stock market or as narrow as a single country or industry. Each index has its own construction methodology, or set of rules for what is included in the index, which is established by its index provider.
Index-based investing offers several benefits, including lower costs than most active management strategies and benchmark-consistent performance. In addition, index funds are broadly diversified since they typically hold all or almost all the securities within the index. This “instant” diversification helps reduce portfolio risk.
Asset Allocation
Asset allocation refers to how an investor divides up his or her investment portfolio among the major asset classes—for example, stocks, bonds, and cash—and within those asset classes, looking at regional, style and market capitalization categories.
Tactical Strategy
ETFs are useful vehicles for tactical strategies such as sector rotation. Using ETFs, an investor can overweight or underweight entire sectors based on technical, fundamental, or quantitative research.
Strategic Strategy
ETFs are also useful in implementing Core/Satellite strategies, which blend low-risk, cost-effective core investments using broad-based index funds, while pursuing higher returns with more aggressive satellite investments in active funds, exotic index fund and individual stock positions.
Our free Trading Platform, a good place to start
A good place to start is by registering and downloading a BBY eBridge Trader practice account. This practice account allows you to trade ETFs on a fully-functional trading platform, on live ETF prices and from a risk-free simulated account that can even be reset if you want to start again from scratch.