How Many ETFs Exist?

This is a list of significant exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States. By 2020, there will be over 7600 exchange-traded funds in the world, representing around $7.74 trillion in assets. With $353.4 billion in assets as of April 2021, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE Arca: SPY) was the largest ETF. The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSE Arca: IVV) came in second with roughly $270.0 billion, and the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (NYSE Arca: VTI) came in third with $213.1 billion.

How many exchange-traded funds does Nasdaq have?

The NASDAQ-100 Index ETFs have a total asset under management of $221.58 billion, with 8 ETFs trading on US exchanges. The cost-to-income ratio is 0.66 percent on average. ETFs that track the NASDAQ-100 Index are available in the following asset classes:

With $217.63 billion in assets, the Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ is the largest NASDAQ-100 Index ETF. The best-performing NASDAQ-100 Index ETF in the previous year was QLD, which gained 209.34 percent. On 10/27/21, the Invesco ESG NASDAQ 100 ETF QQMG became the most recent ETF to be launched in the NASDAQ-100 Index market.

What are the oldest exchange-traded funds (ETFs)?

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was used by the American Stock Exchange (Amex) in 1992 “To request the use of the first authorized stand-alone index-based exchange-traded fund, submit a “SuperTrust Order” (ETF). The SEC authorized the petition, paving the path for the S&P Depository Receipts Trust Series 1 to be released “SDPRs” are short for “Standardized Data They immediately acquired market acceptability and went on to become the first commercially successful ETF.

The SPDRs (Ticker: SPY) were the first ETFs to be listed in the United States, debuting on the American Stock Exchange in 1993. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index serves as the fund’s benchmark. ETFs based on popular benchmarks such as the NASDAQ-100 (Ticker: QQQQ), Dow Jones Industrial Average (Ticker: DIA), and others would come later.

Key Legal Structures

Open-end funds or unit investment trusts are the most common structures for bond and equities ETFs (UITs).

Grantor trusts, exchange-traded notes, and partnerships are the most common types of investment products that track commodities, currencies, or other specialized strategies. Although some of these structures resemble standard ETFs in appearance, they are not always registered or taxed in the same way.

The range of product structures will almost certainly follow the evolution of the ETF universe.

Open-end index fund

The open-end form is used by the majority of ETFs because it provides the most flexibility. Dividends are instantly reinvested and distributed to shareholders on a monthly or quarterly basis in these vehicles. Derivatives, portfolio optimization, and lending securities are all allowed in this ETF design. The Investment Company Act of 1940 governs the registration of open-end funds. iShares, Select Sector SPDRs, PowerShares, Vanguard, and WisdomTree are among the ETF families with this legal structure.

Unit Investment Trust (UITs)

UITs are the most well-known and oldest ETFs, including the BLDRs, Diamonds, SPDRs, and PowerShares QQQ Trust. Dividends are not reinvested in the fund, but are held until they are given to shareholders quarterly or annually in this legal form. The result of these mechanics is a phenomenon known as “dividend drag.” UITs must properly replicate the indices they follow, and they are not permitted to receive income from leased securities. UITs, unlike open-end funds, have expiration periods that can range from a few years to several decades. The majority of expirations are rolled over or extended indefinitely. The Investment Company Act of 1940 governs the registration of UITs.

Grantor Trust

This legal structure delivers dividends to shareholders directly and allows them to keep their voting rights on the trust’s underlying shares. The original securities in a grantor trust are not rebalanced and stay fixed. The Securities Act of 1933 requires grantor trusts to be registered. This is the format used by streetTRACKS Gold Shares, iShares Silver Trust, Merrill Lynch’s HOLDRs, and CurrencyShares.

Exchange-traded Notes (ETNs)

ETNs are debt securities that pay a return that is linked to the performance of a specific stock or index. ETNs are well-suited to specialist asset classes like commodities and developing markets because of their operating structure. Commodity and equities ETNs are taxed as prepaid contracts under existing tax rules. This means that investors only pay taxes when their note is sold, redeemed, or matured. The Securities Act of 1933 governs the registration of ETNs.

The Internal Revenue Service of the United States made an adverse tax judgement on currency linked ETNs in December 2007. The rule declared that any financial instrument connected to a single currency shall be considered as debt for federal tax purposes, regardless of whether it is privately issued, publicly offered, or traded on an exchange. This means that any income earned is taxable to investors, even if it is reinvested and not paid out until the holder sells the financial instrument, such as an ETN, or the contract, whichever comes first. It also means that any gain or loss on a sale or redemption will be treated as ordinary, and investors will not be allowed to choose capital gain treatment. The Internal Revenue Service is scheduled to make a decision on the tax status of ETNs that are tied to commodities and stocks.

Partnerships

Some ETF-like index linked products are really managed as master limited partnerships (MLPs). Even if no cash distributions are given, unit holders must record their portion of the MLP’s income, profits, losses, and deductions on their federal income tax returns.

What is the size of the worldwide ETF market?

At the end of July, the global ETFs and ETPs business had 9,154 products, 18,539 listings, and $9.464 trillion in assets from 563 providers registered on 78 exchanges in 62 countries. ETFs/ETPs received net inflows of $80.45 billion in July 2021.

How much money is managed in a passive manner?

Let’s have a look at the percentages of active versus passive fund management. According to conventional thinking, active fund management has a difficult time outperforming passive fund management over time. As a result, a greater number of passive funds is expected.

Passively managed funds, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, will account for 45 percent of all funds in 2020, up from 44 percent in 2019. According to Morningstar, the leading fund rater, the rise in passive management has been continuous since the financial crisis in 2009.

Passively managed funds track a specific benchmark, such as the S&P 500. ETFs like SPY and index funds like VTSAX are examples of passive funds.

The trend toward a higher ratio of passively managed funds vs actively managed funds will almost certainly continue in the foreseeable future.

What is the largest exchange-traded fund (ETF)?

With a market capitalization of roughly 388.15 billion US dollars as of December 17, 2021, State Street’s SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust was the most valuable exchange traded fund (ETF) in the world.