What Is An ETF? - Fidelity (2024)

FAQs

What Is An ETF? - Fidelity? ›

An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a basket of securities you buy or sell through a brokerage firm on a stock exchange.

ETFs can offer lower operating costs than traditional open-end funds, flexible trading, greater transparency, and better tax efficiency in taxable accounts. As with all investment choices there are elements to review when making an investment decision.

Passive, or index, ETFs generally track and aim to outperform a benchmark index. They provide access to many companies or investments in one trade, whereas individual stocks provide exposure to a single firm. As such, ETFs remove single-stock risk, or the risk inherent in being exposed to just one company.

An ETF, or Exchange Traded Fund is a simple and easy way to get access to investment markets. It is a pre-defined basket of bonds, stocks or commodities that we wrap into a fund and then we list onto the exchange so that everyone can use it.

The greatest risk for investors is market risk. If the underlying index that an ETF tracks drops in value by 30% due to unfavorable market price movements, the value of the ETF will drop as well.

The sale of ETFs is subject to an activity assessment fee (of between $0.01 to $0.03 per $1000 of principal). Fidelity ETFs are subject to a short-term trading fee by Fidelity, if held less than 30 days. 1. Expense Ratio is the total annual fund operating expense ratio from the fund's most recent prospectus.

If you own shares of an exchange-traded fund (ETF), you may receive distributions in the form of dividends. These may be paid monthly or at some other interval, depending on the ETF.

One of the ways that investors make money from exchange traded funds (ETFs) is through dividends that are paid to the ETF issuer and then paid on to their investors in proportion to the number of shares each holds.

You expose your portfolio to much higher risk with sector ETFs, so you should use them sparingly, but investing 5% to 10% of your total portfolio assets may be appropriate. If you want to be highly conservative, don't use these at all.

Is an ETF safer than a stock? ›

The majority of ETFs are safer than individual stocks, because they're inherently diversified. An ETF can contain hundreds or thousands of stocks, across many geographical regions and sectors.

A single stock can potentially return a lot more than an ETF, where you receive the weighted average performance of the holdings. Stocks can pay dividends, and over time those dividends can rise, as the top companies increase their payouts. Companies can be acquired at a substantial premium to the current stock price.

A cross between an index fund and a stock, they're transparent, easy to trade, and tax-efficient. They're also enticing because they consist of a bundle of assets (such as an index, sector, or commodity), so diversifying your portfolio is easy. You might have even seen them offered in your 401(k) or 529 college plan.

The low investment threshold for most ETFs makes it easy for a beginner to implement a basic asset allocation strategy that matches their investment time horizon and risk tolerance. For example, young investors might be 100% invested in equity ETFs when they are in their 20s.

Most ETF income is generated by the fund's underlying holdings. Typically, that means dividends from stocks or interest (coupons) from bonds. Dividends: These are a portion of the company's earnings paid out in cash or shares to stockholders on a per-share basis, sometimes to attract investors to buy the stock.

While Fidelity wins out overall, Vanguard is the best option for retirement savers. Its platform offers tools and education focused specifically on retirement planning.

If you're looking for an easy solution to investing, ETFs can be an excellent choice. ETFs typically offer a diversified allocation to whatever you're investing in (stocks, bonds or both). You want to beat most investors, even the pros, with little effort.

Whether ETFs are a good choice for you depends on what you want to get from your investment. If you're looking for an affordable investment likely to generate moderate returns, sacrificing the potential for higher gains in exchange for lower risk, then ETFs can be an excellent option.

The fund has a beta of 1.02 and standard deviation of 15.63% for the trailing three-year period. With about 110 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk. Fidelity High Dividend ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Value segment of the market.