The Number of ETFs Is Exploding

As I watch the exchange-traded fund (ETF) universe grow, I keep having flashbacks to the huge increase in the number of mutual funds in the 1990s. Back then everyone wanted to own large cap growth funds. You could take your pick of hundreds in the category. A few were really good, a few really bad, and most were average. I saw frustrated investors simply give up trying to choose and throw their money at whatever was convenient. Usually it didn’t work out so well. The good news is that the ETF structure should allow us to avoid some of the ill effects of the mutual fund boom. As Americans, we’re all…