No-Fee ETF

See: Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). See: No Transaction Fee Mutual Fund. See: No Load. And then think about a free lunch. Yeah. Ain’t none.

An ETF is an Exchange-Traded Fund. There was a basket of stocks bought at inception; only very small adjustments are made in the fund (like if a given company is bought for cash). And the ETF just trades along as if it were a single stock.

It’s similar to an index fund, and the “no fee” part is total BS. There is always a fee. It’s just buried. In the case of an ETF, it’s paid in sketchy ways if the company is marketing that it’s “no fee,” and that there truly isn’t a management fee of like half a percent a year or something.

So where does the money come from? How about from a slightly widened spread on trades? Or slightly higher commissions than market prices paid to brokers? Or how about other soft dollar payment techniques that the end user doesn’t ever see?

Yeah, they’re all part of the game of marketing money. So when you shower, make sure the water's hot and use extra soap.