May 13, 2007 at 1:33 am by Tom Lydon
The history of exchange traded funds (ETFs) dates back to 1993, when the American Stock Exchange launched the "Spiders", also known as the S&P Depository Receipts, Trust Series 1 (SPY). The underlying index tracks the S&P 500. ETFs are similar to mutual funds but they have been re-formed so individual and institutional investors can trade them throughout the day as shares on an exchange.
ETFs have come a long way from their simple beginnings, when they only tracked major indices. Nowadays, ETFs follow all asset classes, market sectors, global regions, currencies and commodities.
In celebration of Mother’s Day, ETF Trends honors the "mother" of all ETFs, the SPDRs(SPY). This is the fund that started it all, the original fund that began a following to some of the most efficient investment tools. Performance year-to-date is 6%. Happy Mother’s Day!
Tags: S&P 500, Sector ETFs
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