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explain exchange traded funds ETF ?

friends in todays hindu newspaper there is a term " exchange traded funds ETF "
i tried my.level best but i could not able to understand after going through google
help me
thax :-)
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Comments

  • Ah, my favourite departments. :-)

    As an investor I have been heavily investing in GoldBEES (Goldman Sachs Exchange Traded Funds), which is an ETF. You could see the returns here :-)

    What an ETF does is that it creates a fund for some entity. Say you want to invest in Gold in DeMat form (Raise another questions with title "What does "demat" mean?" )

    Gold costs around 32,000 / 10gms. Now how about an investor like me who only has five thousand bucks, but still wants a share of the pie (i,e. benefit from the rise in price of gold)?


  • So Goldman Sachs comes to my rescue. They say - why not create a fund which will have a unit value like say Rs. 10/unit. This is different from a share and is called unit. One may be even able to buy 1 unit even. So precisely, even if you got Rs. 100, you may buy 10 units. You don't have to have 32000/- to buy at least 10gms of gold.

    Now, each unit has a price (starts with 10 usually, but can be higher)., and it slowly rises, exactly matching the rise in price of gold. So, if Gold price moves up by 11%, the unit price will increase from 10 to Rs. 11.10/-

    The unit price is declared daily and is called NAV or Net Asset Value.

    That way even a small investor is able to participate in the markets.

    But isn't this the same as a Mutual Fund?
  • Yes, it is exactly like a mutual fund. Except that

    1) It is traded on the exchange, like shares. hence the name.

    2) Its value fluctuates all during the day like shares (though minimally), while MFs value is declared at around 2PM everyday only once.

    3) It is free from any entry load (now banned by SEBI) and exit loads applicable on MFs

    4) It is subject to brokerage charges like shares.

    5) When you sell ETFs, your account is credited with the money at end of day unlike MFs where it takes 3-5 days to credit your account.

    6) You need a demat account to buy and sell ETFs. With MFs you can buy and sell them using your online bank account or through some agent.
  • Throw more questions, if you have any doubts.
  • thaxx for this detailed explanation
    now i understand after 2 or 3 times going through whole right up :-):-)

    so thatswhy govt want to push these kinds of funds so that people dont need to buy physical gold for investment and we dont have to.spent our dollar reserve for importing gold thus current account deficit will be reduced which is record high at 4,2%
    m right ?
  • Umm.. see govt's overall objective is to promote people's participation in the stock exchange/equity market. Because most people go for bank deposits, there is lack of retail money (read money from small investors like you and me who prefer debt instruments like FD, Bond etc.) participation.

    For this reason govt brought out the tax saving scheme of Rajiv Gandhi ELSS which is equity oriented. Any investment in the stock markets helps run the economy. The money in banks is just idle money.

    You could say that the govt would prefer people buying gold in demat form (what that term means whould be another question in the "Economics" category.) and not in mat(erial) form which cost us a lot of import.

    However I would not say the govt wants people to do so an micro economics and individual investment choice is always a private choice. Similarly, the govt isn't actively promoting such ETFs, but yes your logic is correct that it would be beneficial.
  • @Neyawn So economics is your area!! Why dont you post articles on economics???
  • @partho Not economics per se, but practical economics. Like MFs, shares, primary markets, secondary markets, Insurance etc. I know it from an investor point of view. Post more questions here, and I shall type in replies :-) For one, you could ask "what is Demat" in a new question. :-)
  • I have tried understanding capital markets topic in economics but boy my mind shuts down after reading anything to do with it. Please @neyawn help me out in atleast capital markets
  • I would say get a practitioner's perspective. Log onto moneycontrol.com and see share prices rise. Or monitor a couple of Mutual Funds by creating an account. You'll realise they are simple concepts. Reading doesn't really help.

    You could also pose a few objective questions here and I will be glad to answer your queries.
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