What are the benefits and limitations of investing in ETFs? MintGenie explains (2024)

FAQs

What are the advantages and disadvantages of investing in ETFs? ›

In addition, ETFs tend to have much lower expense ratios compared to actively managed funds, can be more tax-efficient, and offer the option to immediately reinvest dividends. Still, unique risks can arise from holding ETFs as well as tax considerations, depending on the type of ETF.

Positive aspects of ETFs

The 4 most prominent advantages are trading flexibility, portfolio diversification and risk management, lower costs versus like mutual funds, and potential tax benefits.

ETF trading risk

Spreads can vary over time as well, being small one day and wide the next. What's worse, an ETF's liquidity can be superficial: The ETF may trade one penny wide for the first 100 shares, but to sell 10,000 shares quickly, you might have to pay a quarter spread.

Liquidity Risk

Not all ETFs have a large asset base or high trading volume. If you find yourself in a fund that has a large bid-ask spread and low volume you could run into problems with selling your shares. That pricing inefficiency could cost you more money and greater losses.

ETFs often generate fewer capital gains for investors than mutual funds. This is partly because so many of them are passively managed and don't change their holdings that often.

Advantages of investing in ETFs

ETFs tend to be less volatile than individual stocks, meaning your investment won't swing in value as much. The best ETFs have low expense ratios, the fund's cost as a percentage of your investment. The best may charge only a few dollars annually for every $10,000 invested.

Diversification. Passive, or index, ETFs generally track and aim to outperform a benchmark index. They provide access to many companies or investments in one trade, whereas individual stocks provide exposure to a single firm.

Key Takeaways. ETFs can be safe investments if used correctly, offering diversification and flexibility. Indexed ETFs, tracking specific indexes like the S&P 500, are generally safe and tend to gain value over time. Leveraged ETFs can be used to amplify returns, but they can be riskier due to increased volatility.

ETFs are generally considered more tax-efficient than mutual funds, owing to the fact that they typically have fewer capital gains distributions. However, they still have tax implications you must consider, both when creating your portfolio as well as when timing the sale of an ETF you hold.

Liquidation of ETFs is strictly regulated; when an ETF closes, any remaining shareholders will receive a payout based on what they had invested in the ETF. Receiving an ETF payout can be a taxable event.

What is not recommended when trading ETFs? ›

Buying high and selling low

At any given time, the spread on an ETF may be high, and the market price of shares may not correspond to the intraday value of the underlying securities. Those are not good times to transact business.

Leveraged ETFs use various financial instruments such as futures, options and swaps to achieve their leverage. These instruments have associated costs, including transaction costs, bid/ask spreads and management fees. These costs can eat into the returns of the ETF and contribute to its decay.

Advantages and disadvantages of ETFs

Investing in ETFs helps to mitigate unsystematic risks due to its passive investment strategy. It also lowers one's overall investment risk. It greatly helps with portfolio diversification. With the limited role of fund managers, ETF investments are comparatively cost-effective.

You expose your portfolio to much higher risk with sector ETFs, so you should use them sparingly, but investing 5% to 10% of your total portfolio assets may be appropriate. If you want to be highly conservative, don't use these at all.

In other words, you could potentially be liable for more than you invested because you bought the position on leverage. But can a leveraged ETF go negative? No. If you own a leveraged ETF you can't lose more than your initial investment amount.

Most ETF income is generated by the fund's underlying holdings. Typically, that means dividends from stocks or interest (coupons) from bonds. Dividends: These are a portion of the company's earnings paid out in cash or shares to stockholders on a per-share basis, sometimes to attract investors to buy the stock.