ETF
Business & Finance abbreviation · Stock Market & Investing
| Stands for | Exchange-traded fund |
|---|---|
| Categories | Business & Finance |
ETF stands for Exchange-traded fund, a stock market & investing abbreviation.
Investment fund that holds a basket of assets, such as stocks, bonds or commodities, and trades on a stock exchange throughout the day like a single share. Most ETFs track an index at low cost, making them a popular alternative to mutual funds.
Example: She invests $500 a month in a total-market ETF with an expense ratio of 0.03 percent.
Usage notes
The first US ETF, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), launched in 1993 and remains one of the most traded securities in the world. In the US, ETFs are generally more tax-efficient than mutual funds because of in-kind creations and redemptions by authorized participants. Global ETF assets passed $10 trillion in 2021. Leveraged and inverse ETFs are designed for short-term trading and can behave unexpectedly over longer periods.
Related abbreviations
More stock market & investing abbreviations
- EAFE – Europe, Australasia and Far East
- ECN – Electronic communication network
- EDGAR – Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval
- EM – Emerging markets
- EMA – Exponential moving average
- EMH – Efficient-market hypothesis
- ETN – Exchange-traded note
- ETP – Exchange-traded product
- FAANG – Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google
- FINRA – Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
- FOK – Fill or kill
- FPO – Follow-on public offering