Choosing the best ETFs for your portfolio

Choosing the best ETFs for your portfolio

Summary: For investors who are just starting out, an easy and simple way to make an entry into the stock market is investing in Exchange-traded Funds (ETFs). It’s important to understand the underlying assets, the index being tracked, and the strategy of the ETF before investing. This blog should give you a head start in that direction.

Exchange-traded Funds (ETFs) are a type of investment fund which are bought and sold on stock exchanges, just like stocks. ETFs are formulated to monitor the movements of a specific commodity, index, sector, or related assets. ETFs provide investors with access to a portfolio of underlying assets that is diverse, without having to buy each asset individually. Here are some key features of ETFs:

• Underlying assets: An ETF typically holds a group of assets, such as stocks, bonds, commodities, or a combination of these.
• Creation and redemption: Authorised participants (usually large financial institutions) create and redeem ETF shares based on the demand in the market.
• Traded on exchanges: Like stocks, ETFs are traded on stock exchanges throughout the trading day. This makes them different from conventional mutual funds, which are bought or sold at the end-of-day net asset value. Based on supply and demand, ETF prices can fluctuate during the day.
• Liquidity: ETFs are generally considered to be liquid investments because they can be traded on exchanges whenever the market is open.
• Diversification: ETFs offer investors the benefit of diversification. Investors can spread out their risks across many securities.
• Low costs: Many ETFs have expense ratios that are lower in contrast to actively managed mutual funds. This is because ETFs typically target replicating an index’s performance rather than having active managers making investment decisions.
• Transparency: Holdings are disclosed by ETFs regularly, making it possible for investors to know which assets they are in ownership of.
• Tax efficiency: ETFs are designed in a way that can potentially lead to greater tax efficiency through the creation and redemption process, which can help minimise the distribution of capital gains.
• Flexibility: ETFs cover various asset classes and investment strategies, providing investors the flexibility to tailor investment portfolios to their specific preferences and goals.

Put simply, ETFs are low-cost, easy to buy and sell, transparent, and tax efficient, and provide investors the flexibility of diversification.

Leading ETFs

Here is a list of some of the leading ETFs based on their investment strategies and themes:

Summing up

Remember that each type of ETF carries its own risks and potential rewards. It is important to understand the underlying assets, the index being tracked, and the strategy of the ETF before investing. Always conduct thorough research or consult with a financial advisor before making any investment decisions.

Disclaimer

The investment options and stocks mentioned here are not recommendations. Please go through your own due diligence and conduct thorough research before investing. Investment in the securities market is subject to market risks. Please read the Risk Disclosure documents carefully before investing. Past performance of instruments/securities does not indicate their future performance. Due to the price fluctuation risk and the market risk, there is no guarantee that your personal investment objectives will be achieved.