Exchange Traded Funds(ETFs)

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What is an ETF?

ETFs are essentially index funds that are listed on an exchange and track the price performance of the target index closely. The ETF trading value is based on the net asset value (NAV) of the underlying stocks in the target index. E.g., a Nifty ETF will look to replicate CNX Nifty returns.

ETFs are popular world over with nearly 60% of trading volumes on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) captured by all types of ETFs. At the end of June 2011, the global ETF industry comprised 2,825 ETFs from 146 providers on 49 exchanges around the world with total assets of US$1.49 trillion (Source: www.ifaonline.co.uk).

The ETF advantage

  • Trade like stocks

     - You can buy and sell an ETF during market hours on a real time basis as well as put advance orders on purchase such as limits or stops. In case of conventional mutual funds, purchase or sale can be done only once a day after the fund NAV is calculated.

  • Low cost of investment

     - The passive investment style with low turnover helps keep costs low. ETFs are known to have among the lowest expense ratios compared to others schemes.

  • Diversification benefit

     - In case of Nifty ETF, you own the complete basket of 50 stocks and remain diversified.

  • Simple and transparent

     - The underlying securities are known and quantities are pre-defined (In case of conventional mutual fund schemes, one needs to wait for the monthly factsheet). No form filling is required if you transact in the secondary market. Investment can be made directly from the fund house or the exchange.
  • Supports small ticket investments - ETFs are a great tool for investors wanting to start with a small corpus. The minimum ticket size is 1 unit (in case of IIFL Nifty ETF, 1 unit is approximately 1/10th of Nifty level, i.e Rs500, when Nifty is at 5000). Premium and discount also tends to be higher in the futures segment, than in ETFs.
  • ETFs are taxed like stocks - Investors can take advantage of special rates for short term and long-term capital gains.
Target audience
  • Long term investors
  • First time investors
  • Investors looking for a low cost diversified portfolio
  • Traders who do not have enough capital to invest in index futures
  • Institutional investors looking to temporarily park cash during portfolio transition
  • Arbitrageurs to carry out operations with low impact cost
Concept of tracking error

The extent to which the NAV of the scheme moves in a manner inconsistent with the movements of the underlying Index on any given day or over any given period of time due to any cause or reason whatsoever including but not limited to expenditure incurred by the scheme, dividend payouts if any, all cash not invested at all times as it may keep a portion of funds in cash to meet redemption, purchase price different from the closing price of securities on the day of rebalance of Index, etc.

Points to note before investing in ETFs
  • Invest in ETFs with ample secondary market liquidity - Fund houses do depend on market makers and arbitrageurs to maintain liquidity to keep the price in line with the actual NAV.
  • ETFs track the target index – Any investor wanting an exposure to a particular target index like Nifty will do well by investing in ETFs. The objective of ETF is to be the index rather than beat the Index.
  • Always invest in key benchmarks ETFs rather than sectoral funds - Investing in sectoral ETFs is prone to higher volatility compared to key benchmark ETFs like Nifty.
  • Cost of trading on the exchange - Investor will have to bear the cost of brokerage and other applicable statutory levies e.g, Securities Transaction Tax, etc, when the units are bought or sold on the stock exchange.
ETF Performance
All Gold Debt Index Bank
Scheme Name AUM(Rs.in Cr) NAV(Rs.) 1w % 3m % 6m % 1y % 3y % Since Incp.
Motilal Oswal NASDAQ-100 ETF 95.99 486.40 1.31 1.88 [3.74] 15.77 21.27 21.71
Kotak NV 20 ETF 4.37 55.32 [1.45] 3.09 [1.04] 12.03 19.47 15.79
Reliance ETF NV20 14.21 553.71 [1.45] 2.97 [1.13] 11.86 19.32 11.47
ICICI Pru NV20 ETF 3.05 54.17 [1.42] 2.95 [1.15] 11.46 0 15.79
Reliance ETF Long Term Gilt 2.69 18.14 [0.15] 2.97 6.12 8.74 0 6.44
LIC MF G-Sec Long Term ETF 72.29 17.98 [0.15] 2.95 6.04 8.49 7.31 7.33
IDBI Gold ETF 62.46 3,135.52 0.40 6.90 12.07 8.08 3.58 1.07
UTI-Gold ETF 346.75 2,979.18 0.41 6.96 12.14 7.79 3.29 10.09
Canara Robeco Gold ETF 37.77 3,069.86 0.36 6.26 11.23 7.72 4.42 1.30
AXIS Gold ETF 78.43 2,929.39 0.39 6.86 11.82 7.69 1.99 4.67
Invesco India Gold ETF 31.20 3,046.50 0.40 7.08 12.21 7.65 2.91 6.86
Quantum Gold Fund (G) 54.68 1,471.29 0.40 7.08 12.19 7.63 2.84 8.27
Aditya Birla SL Gold ETF 76.83 3,089.73 0.40 6.87 12 7.59 2.88 4.29
ICICI Pru Gold ETF 95.07 30.29 0.40 7.04 12.14 7.58 2.69 5.70
Kotak GOLD ETF 366.70 294.46 0.40 6.88 11.97 7.57 2.98 10.88
Reliance ETF Gold BeES 2,317.40 2,956.49 0.40 6.86 11.76 7.47 2.93 10.05
HDFC Gold ETF 444.95 3,036.25 0.40 6.82 11.86 7.40 3.21 6.33
SBI ETF Gold 634.04 3,019.46 0.40 6.84 11.87 7.39 2.78 7.55
SBI ETF 10 Year Gilt 2.21 168.72 [0.03] 2.48 4.90 7.10 0 5.68
LIC MF ETF Sensex 352.24 372.66 [2] 1.72 [4.96] 5.73 16.49 11.66
Edelweiss ETF - Nifty Bank 0.98 2,717.58 [1.83] 2.41 [4.34] 5.73 23.52 17.26
Reliance ETF Bank BeES 3,829.67 2,727.07 [1.83] 2.41 [4.37] 5.69 23.31 19.31
IDFC Sensex ETF 0.87 366.68 [1.97] 1.66 [4.92] 5.66 0 12.01
SBI ETF Nifty Bank 866.68 270.14 [1.83] 2.42 [4.36] 5.66 23.43 10.38
HDFC Sensex ETF 42.40 3,730.34 [2.01] 1.63 [5.04] 5.63 16.62 13.38
Reliance ETF Sensex 14.90 378.22 [2] 1.65 [5.03] 5.62 16.42 8.14
UTI-Sensex ETF 3,197.41 373.59 [2] 1.65 [5.04] 5.62 16.45 11.35
SBI ETF SENSEX 12,862.84 376.05 [2] 1.65 [5.05] 5.61 16.44 13.13
Kotak Banking ETF 5,114.56 273.87 [1.83] 2.39 [4.40] 5.61 23.44 9.35
ICICI Pru Sensex ETF 14.74 377.53 [1.98] 1.62 [4.94] 5.52 16.21 16.92
Kotak Sensex ETF 11.78 366.17 [2] 1.61 [5.09] 5.49 16.22 9.19
ICICI Pru Nifty Low Vol 30 ETF 5.46 85.72 [1.96] 1.49 [4.54] 4.87 0 9.94
Edelweiss ETF - Nifty 100 Quality 30 4.91 269.35 [1.68] 1.98 [7.14] 4.31 0 10.15
Edelweiss ETF - Nifty 50 2.38 11,441.36 [1.93] 1.40 [5.67] 3.24 16.47 9.25
AXIS Nifty ETF 6.70 1,093.70 [1.95] 1.19 [5.66] 3.18 0 7.87
IDFC Nifty ETF 1.01 109.91 [1.92] 1.18 [5.71] 3.15 0 10.43
HDFC Nifty 50 ETF 83.55 1,113.09 [1.96] 1.19 [5.84] 3.14 15.86 12.70
Reliance ETF Nifty BeES 945.08 1,123.29 [1.95] 1.21 [5.82] 3.14 15.73 15.71
SBI ETF Nifty 50 40,210.87 109.17 [1.96] 1.20 [5.84] 3.11 15.94 7.56
ICICI Pru Nifty ETF 965.59 111.76 [1.95] 1.25 [5.82] 3.07 15.83 12.58
UTI-Nifty ETF 9,519.84 1,123.04 [1.96] 1.19 [5.85] 3.06 15.94 11.12
Kotak Nifty ETF 569.03 110.01 [1.96] 1.17 [5.87] 3.02 15.81 10.41
LIC MF ETF NIFTY 472.60 110.92 [1.96] 1.18 [5.83] 3 15.80 11.23
Quantum Nifty ETF 5.06 1,090.87 [1.95] 1.18 [5.85] 2.99 15.71 10.83
Invesco India Nifty ETF 1.87 1,136.26 [1.95] 1.18 [5.86] 2.97 15.87 10.32
Motilal Oswal M50 ETF 18.95 103.90 [1.94] 1.17 [5.83] 2.88 14.75 3.40
Aditya Birla SL Nifty ETF 147.39 115.62 [1.96] 0.93 [6] 2.69 15.62 10.19
Reliance ETF Hang Seng BeES 6.96 3,114.44 [0.30] 5.34 2.98 1.98 17.84 10.86
SBI BSE 100 ETF 1.50 111.07 [2.29] [0.08] [6.74] 0.59 15.81 7.20
ICICI Pru Nifty 100 ETF 4.08 115.29 [2.14] 0.18 [6.77] 0.53 15.24 15.21
LIC MF ETF Nifty 100 296.18 111.75 [2.19] 0.14 [6.99] 0.36 0 14.12
ICICI Pru Nifty Next 50 ETF 1.82 25.63 [3.79] [6.24] 0 0 0 [16.27]
SBI ETF SENSEX Next 50 8.80 302.95 [3.93] [5.94] 0 0 0 [3.97]
Aditya Birla SL Nifty Next 50 ETF 13.34 254.46 [3.91] 0 0 0 0 [9.67]
Mirae Asset Nifty 50 ETF 1.00 107.39 [1.95] 0 0 0 0 0.78
ICICI Pru Liquid ETF 15.80 1,000.00 0.11 1.57 0 0 0 2.52
SBI ETF Quality 4.58 94.01 [2.72] 0 0 0 0 2.47
Reliance ETF Liquid BeES 1,988.58 1,000.00 0 0 0 0 1.37 5.33
DSP Liquid ETF - Reinvest (Div-D) 71.35 1,000.00 0.11 5.09 8.46 0 0 11.57
ICICI Pru S&P BSE 500 ETF 3.88 141.57 [2.16] [1.28] [8.70] 0 0 [5.27]
Reliance ETF Nifty 100 5.42 111.16 [2.20] [0.07] [7.39] [0.49] 14.62 12.50
Reliance ETF Dividend Opportunities 1.89 28.43 [1.87] [0.76] [6.67] [2.11] 16.80 10.95
Reliance ETF Consumption 4.75 49.43 [3.09] [1.70] [10.87] [2.52] 14.26 13.46
Aditya Birla SL Sensex ETF 10.69 331.40 [2] [0.85] [7.72] [4.16] 0 7.19
Reliance ETF Shariah BeES 3.10 238.04 [3.09] [1.65] [6.34] [5.76] 12.28 13.17
Bharat 22 ETF 5,190.32 33.23 [2.83] [6.47] [8.98] [10.25] 0 [9.73]
Reliance ETF Junior BeES 745.50 262.50 [3.85] [6.39] [13.83] [13.65] 14.01 20.83
UTI-Nifty Next 50 ETF 34.67 258.83 [3.85] [6.38] [13.93] [13.66] 0 [6.14]
SBI ETF Nifty Next 50 20.40 259.36 [3.85] [6.38] [13.92] [13.82] 14.41 8.08
ICICI Pru Midcap Select ETF 10.01 61.02 [3.83] [7.92] [12.35] [15.71] 0 7.43
Reliance ETF Infra BeES 12.70 293.33 [0.95] [7.32] [7.36] [17.33] 7 [2.99]
Kotak PSU Bank ETF 62.18 268.97 [6.96] [8.55] [14.70] [17.96] 7.74 0.44
Reliance ETF PSU Bank BeES 103.09 298.06 [6.96] [8.60] [14.78] [18.03] 7.65 1.24
Motilal Oswal Midcap 100 ETF 21.79 16.81 [2.24] [7.64] [15.31] [18.16] 10.58 9.79
CPSE ETF 6,909.00 22.61 [1.85] [11.93] [16.93] [24.75] 6.05 5.44
 
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