Mutual funds vs. ETFs: A side-by-side comparison

Mutual funds, with their nearly 100-year history, and their more modern relatives, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), are investment vehicles made up of diversified portfolios of securities. You can purchase shares in these funds through a brokerage firm or other provider, allowing you to have a financial interest in many companies at once.

Due to the differences in how each type of fund is structured, traded and taxed, one may be more suitable for your investment preferences and style. The best way to determine which type of fund is right for you is to learn about them and how they work.

Mutual Funds vs Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)

Mutual funds and ETFs are structurally similar. Both own assets in the form of securities (i.e. stocks or bonds) and sell shares of these assets to investors. One of the differences between funds is the rules governing how investors interact with each type of fund.

Mutual Funds: A pool of investments actively managed by a fund manager that aims to generate income that meets or exceeds established criteria.

ETF: A pool of investment funds passively managed by a fund manager whose purpose is to generate income by tracking a particular stock index.

“ETFs initially took a more passive approach. That means simply tracking your investments in an index like the S&P 500. Now, just like mutual funds, there are active and passive ETFs. Most ETFs are still passive, and some active options are smaller in terms of money under management,” said Michael Doniger, COO, UNext.

An in-depth analysis reveals the structure, features, and pros and cons of these funds.

What is a Mutual Fund?

A mutual fund is an investment in which the money of many investors is pooled and used to purchase stocks that become a portfolio of stocks or funds.

Funds are managed by professional managers who actively work to increase the value of the fund by buying and selling assets in accordance with the fund’s purpose.

The total value of a mutual fund depends on the value of all the stocks you invest in and how well those stocks perform in the market.

The value of a single mutual fund share, also known as net asset value (NAV), is determined by dividing the total value of the fund’s assets, minus liabilities by the total number of outstanding shares.

Investors who lack the interest, experience, or funds to buy individual stocks, may see an actively managed mutual fund as a desirable addition to their portfolio. The desire for diversification, professional management, and low risk without a lot of effort makes this type of investment a good fit for many people.

How mutual funds work:

When you invest in a mutual fund you receive fund shares (not actual stock) based on the amount you invest (I) divided by the current NAV of a single share.

This process can continue with the value of your investment rising (or falling), depending on the performance of the stocks in the fund.

If you decide to sell some (or all) of your shares, you will do so at the end of the market day, based on the NAV at that time.

Your profit will depend on any increase in the NAV of your shares minus expenses such as sales loads, and capital gains taxes times the number of shares you sell. You can earn money with mutual funds three ways, dividends, capital gains distributions, and the aforementioned rise in the NAV.

Pros and cons of mutual funds:

Although ETFs have replaced mutual funds in many portfolios, the advantages of mutual funds outweigh the disadvantages in the minds of certain types of investors, including those for whom professional management and convenience trump higher fees.

Pros of mutual funds:

Diversification.

For those who want immediate diversification and don’t have the interest, time, or money to create individual stocks from scratch, mutual funds offer an easy path to that goal.

Professional management. Actively managed mutual funds offer higher returns than index funds due to the manager’s experience.

Minority

One of the most tried and true investing strategies is “buying dollars”, where you invest a certain amount of money on a schedule.

Mutual funds allow partial stocks so that the entire investment amount works for you. Convenience. Mutual funds allow automatic reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions.

Disadvantages of Mutual Funds:

High cost. Because expertise comes with a price, actively managed mutual funds typically have higher investment costs than passively managed ETFs.

High taxes on capital gains. Because mutual funds distribute capital gains at the end of the year, shareholders must pay taxes on those gains even if the fund performs poorly overall.

Lack of transparency. Unlike ETFs, which require disclosure of holdings on a daily basis, mutual funds do not have such a requirement, making the fund less transparent. Less liquid than the ETF. Mutual fund stocks can only be redeemed once a day after the close of trading, making them less liquid than stocks or ETF stocks.

Performance degradation history. A recent study by researcher Tong Yao, professor of finance at the University of Iowa’s Tippy College of Business, found that even passively managed mutual funds lag behind ETFs in annual returns by 42 basis points.

“Most of this underperformance is a result of investor servicing costs and the need to hold cash (also known as a cash drag) to pay repayments,” says Tong.

What is an ETF?

ETFs are a type of exchange-traded investment product that must register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). ETFs offer a pooled investment in a fund that buys stocks and grants investors shares similar to a mutual fund. Most ETFs are passively managed meaning the fund tracks a specific index such as the S&P 500, which negates the need for expensive active management.

Since ETF shares are traded on a stock exchange during the trading day, each share’s value changes constantly and may or may not equal the NAV of the fund’s shares. An ETF’s NAV is calculated the same as with a mutual fund, by taking the value of the ETF’s assets minus its liabilities divided by the number of shares outstanding.

Like mutual funds, ETFs attract investors for a variety of reasons. Portfolio diversification is the second most important feature of liquidity due to the ability to buy and sell stocks on exchanges. Transparency and tax efficiency add to the list of reasons why ETFs are part of many investment schemes today.

How the ETF works: Investing in the ETF is similar to investing in the stock market in that the funds’ stocks are traded (e.g, buy and sell) on exchanges at market prices that change throughout the day. As with mutual funds, you are not buying actual stocks, you are buying shares of a fund that invests in stocks.

“Since ETFs trade continuously during market hours, they can be viewed as a more tactical vehicle in terms of trading. “Long-term investors may be less interested in the trading side of these products.”

Buying stock in an ETF Usually, you don’t invest a certain amount, you buy a certain number of stocks at the current market price. This is because, unlike mutual funds, ETFs generally do not offer minority stocks.

For example, suppose you have $1,000 to invest in an ETF and the market price of the stock you want to buy is $30. Since you can’t normally buy some stocks in the ETF, you get 33 shares for $990 ($1,000 / $30 = 33.33), leaving you with $10 in cash until you can buy one more share by adding $20.

If the market price rises by $1, you can sell the stock and make a profit of $33 (not $33).
33, same as mutual funds). Keep in mind that you are buying and selling stocks based on market price, not NAV.

In general, market value and net worth do not differ much, but deviations do occur. When the market price is higher than the NAV, the stock is said to be selling at a premium. When the market price is below the NAV, the stock is said to be selling at a discount.

Some traders take advantage of the difference between market price and NAV, but this is very difficult. Most investors trade in market movements or buy-and-hold to reap long-term benefits from dividends and capital gains.

Pros and Cons of ETFs:

ETFs, like mutual funds, have their pros and cons, but depending on how you invest, they may have fewer downsides than mutual funds.

Benefits of Diversification ETFs:

Like mutual funds, ETFs provide an easy and cost-effective way to grow your portfolio without buying individual stocks.

Tax Efficiency. “ETFs are more tax-efficient at the fund holding level because of their exchange-traded nature,” says Jeremy Schwartz, Global Investments Director, WisdomTree. “Also, ETF stocks can move back and forth on exchanges, which reduces the opportunity for capital gains.”

Trades. Since ETFs trade like stocks, you have the opportunity to take advantage of stock price movements during the trading day.

Transparency. Stephen Gardner, director of ETFMG, advises, “ETF’s stocks should, in almost all circumstances, be disclosed daily so that investors know what they own.” “Mutual funds typically only release quarterly holdings with a 30-day delay.”

liquidity. “ETFs add liquidity because they can be bought and sold on exchanges throughout the trading day,” says Schwartz.

Disadvantages of the ETF. no decimal point. Compared to dollar-based mutual funds, most ETFs do not offer minority shares. This means you should invest in the entire stock no matter how high the value is.

manual control. ETFs that follow an index can potentially yield lower returns as they do not attempt to outperform the benchmark Tracking error.

“The downside to ETFs is a little bit of tracking error,” says Derek Horstmeyer, professor of finance at George Mason University School of Business. “In other words, it may not accurately reflect your holdings.”

How to choose between the two When considering the differences between mutual funds and ETFs, one conclusion cannot be avoided. Research Analyst at Arnerich Massena, an investment advisory firm. Active managers are critical to portfolio results.

This is not to say that mutual funds, especially actively managed funds, are by no means suitable. First, some active managers consistently meet or exceed established standards.

If you are looking for one, are looking for a higher return on your investments, and are willing to take some risks, an actively managed fund may be for you.

But for most people, experts tend to prefer new exchange-traded funds that offer lower costs and higher tax efficiency than actively managed mutual funds.

Originally published at https://businessdor.com on February 8, 2023.