Modern day ETFs offer a world of choice & styles
Not long ago, investors seeking to replicate equity index returns on a low cost basis only had a handful of options including SPDRs (State Street Global Advisors S&P500 depository receipts), a collection of WEB offerings (MSCI World Equity Benchmark Series country index securities), or perhaps even owned Canada’s own TIPs (Toronto 35 Index Participation Units). Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have come a long way since the early 90’s. The original TIPs 35 security held 35 Toronto Stock Exchange listed equities (tracking the original TSE 35 Composite Index), and with an MER of just 5 bps (0.05%) provided economical diversification to Canadian large cap stocks. The introduction of TIPS in 1990 helped propel the development of a market that now exceeds $85 billion in domestic ETF assets and over $2.9 trillion globally [ETF Trends – March 10, 2015 (ETF assets as of February 2015)].
