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COMMENT
Exchange Traded Funds or ETFs are said to be the stock market's best-kept secret. Why? Because there is no commission to advisers who recommend them, so there is little incentive for them to do so. In a nutshell, ETFs are essentially index tracking funds that provide investors with an easy way to buy a very wide range of assets. For instance, you can buy an ETF that tracks the FTSE, or one that follows the Chinese market. It is even possible to buy an ETF that tracks the European, US or corporate bond markets. But they all have one thing in common - they are incredibly cheap! According to investment bank Morgan Stanley, there were just three ETFs in existence ten years ago. They had around £450m in assets under management. Today, there are over 300 ETFs available worldwide, managing assets of over £138b. In the UK, Barclay's Global Investors is the largest provider of ETFs, under its iShares brand. Listed below are the fourteen Barclays iShares currently available in descending order of their total net assets. By the end of the year, the number of iShares available to UK investors is expected to double to 28. Amongst the new funds to be launched in three tranches between 31 October and 21 November are a Taiwan tracker, a Korean tracker and even a DJ Euro STOXX Value fund. Additionally, high-yield fans may be pleased to hear that an iShares FTSE UK Dividend Plus will also be available. Personally, I'm a little disappointed that Barclays won't be launching a low-cost commodity tracker or iShares for the India and Russia markets, though there will be an iShares for Emerging Markets. Interestingly, Morgan Stanley reckons that one day ETFs could be routine purchase for investor and it's easy to see why. The management fee, which is known as the Total Expense Ratio, amounts to around 0.4% for iShares funds. By comparison, some actively managed mutual funds can charge as much as five times this amount! What's more, because iShares can be bought and sold in the same way as shares, they can be included in your ISA to protect your investments from tax. And as an added bonus you don't have to pay stamp duty when you buy iShares. > Find out more about index trackers and iShares. David owns shares in iShares FTSE 100.
Fund name
Total Net Assets
iShares DJ Euro STOXX 50 (LSE: EUE)
£1,970m
iShares FTSE 100 (LSE: ISF)
£836m
iShares S&P 500 (LSE: IUSA)
£726m
iShares MSCI japan (LSE: IJPN)
£583m
iShares DJ STOXX 50 (LSE: EUN)
£500m
iShares ¬Corporate Bond (LSE: IBCX)
£475m
iShares FTSE/Xinhua (LSE: FXC)
£135m
iShares FTSEEurofirst 80 (LSE: IEUR)
£110m
iShares £ Corporate Bond (LSE: SLXX)
£98m
iShares FTSE 250 (LSE: MIDD)
£84m
iShares $ Corporate Bond (LSE: LQDE)
£78m
iShares DJ Eurp STOXX MidCap (LSE: DJMC)
£61m
iShares FTSEEurofirst (LSE: IEUT)
£46m
iShares DJ Euro STOXX SmallCap (LSE: DJSC)
£38m
Total funds under management
£5,740m