June 08, 2008 at 1:00 pm by Tom Lydon
A recent survey revealed what qualities advisors relish in exchange traded funds (ETFs) and what they think can improve. There were 840 investment professionals surveyed and asked to rate the importance of different characteristics of ETFs, such as cost, liquidity, and exposure, reports Jesse Emspak for Investor’s Business Daily.
State Street Global Advisors and the Wharton School of Business came to two major conclusions from the survey. The major factors for why advisors use ETFs are cost and liquidity. The flood of choices and unproven indexes are rated as the biggest setbacks.
Overall, cost was the biggest and most important factor, with liquidity finishing second. Continuous trading came in third, with tax efficiency rated fourth, somewhere in the middle. Shorting was last on the list, with many advisors not even interested in that aspect. 40% of respondents are planning on using ETFs more in the future.
