Why ETFs are luring in retail investors

The rapid growth in assets being managed by exchange traded funds (ETFs) over the past ten years (since end of 2000 to end of April 2011) is testament to the range of benefits and innovative solutions they offer to investors. Over this period the compound annual growth rate for ETF assets globally was 33%. In the US, growth has tracked the global trend at 30%, but it is in Europe where investors have seized on the ETF opportunity and exhibited the most appetite, with a growth rate of 81%, far exceeding US and global rates. While the performance of many ETFs has done much to drive dema...