Portfolio
What is ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund)?
An ETF is a basket of securities (stocks, bonds, commodities) that trades on an exchange like a single stock, combining mutual-fund-style diversification with intraday liquidity, lower fees, and tax efficiency.
Formula
ETF Price ≈ NAV per share (creation/redemption mechanism keeps price aligned to NAV via Authorized Participants).
How to Interpret
ETFs are the dominant low-cost investing vehicle in the US - SPY, VOO, VTI, QQQ, and IVV alone hold trillions in AUM. US ETFs benefit from in-kind redemption tax efficiency (rare capital gain distributions). India's ETF market is smaller but growing fast (Nippon, ICICI Prudential, SBI ETFs on NSE/BSE).
Typical Ranges
US: expense ratios 0.03%–0.20% for broad-market ETFs, 0.20%–0.75% for sector/thematic. India: 0.05%–0.50%. Look for high AUM (>$1B in US, >₹1,000 Cr in India) and tight bid-ask spreads.