Investing On Autopilot

摘要

It's gotten easier - and more common - to create a portfolio using only ETFs. Whether that's a smart move is another matter. JUST WHEN EVERYONE thought exchange-traded funds couldn't get any more popular - having become a feature in many investors' portfolios - the $1 trillion industry has hit the jackpot with some loyal followers. Introducing the all-ETF portfolio. In a bold move of sorts, some ETF-selling firms are pitching a one-breed-fits-all product to advisers and investors alike - and they are enjoying some success. Investors now hold more than $28 billion in all-ETF portfolios; that's nearly quadruple the amount invested in them just two years ago. At the same time, there are now 83 investment managers offering ETF-exclusive portfolios, up from 25 in early 2009. Demand is growing so fast that Charles Schwab is developing a system to build and track 401 (k) plans filled only with exchange-traded funds, a move that analysts say could spur other big brokerages to follow suit. And fund researcher Morningstar is developing a database to track the 300 (and growing) all-ETF portfolios it knows exist. "We're trying to shed some light on it," says Timothy Strauts, an ETF analyst at Morningstar, noting that hundreds more such portfolios are probably in use.