What are the costs of investing in ETFs through the exchange?
While the Expense Ratio of ETFs is generally low, there are certain costs that are unique to ETFs. Since ETFs, like stocks, are bought as shares through a broker, every time an investor makes a purchase, he/she pays a brokerage commission. In addition, an investor can suffer the usual costs of trading stocks, including differences in the ask-bid spread etc. Of course, traditional Mutual Fund investors are also subjected to the same trading costs indirectly, as the Fund in turn pays for these costs.
