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To learn more about our privacy policy Click hereHow long have ETFs been around?
ETF's are a comparatively recent product, having been available in the US only since 1993. In 1992, the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) made use of the SEC's "SuperTrust Order" to request use of the how to buy etf in singapore first authorized ETF. The SEC approved that petition, and granted the SPDR Order in October, 1992, enabling the AMEX to subsequently list the S&P Depositary Receipts, Trust Series 1 (aka "Spider") (which was benchmarked to the Standard & Poors' 500 Index) the following year. ETFs came to Europe a few years later, in 1999. (In the US, in addition to "Spiders", new ETFs followed benchmarks like the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIAMONDS Trust Series 1 ("Diamonds"), and the NASDAQ (NASDAQ 100 Index Tracking Stock ("Cubes") followed in 1998 and 1999 respectively..)
As such, ETF's have to date been mainly what might be called "index funds" which track entire indexes (as above). While, during their short history to date, ETFs have traditionally been the domain of large and/or offshore investors, with private investors reluctant to trade in them, this trend is changing. Now private investors account for approximately 40 percent of ETF trades in the US, a proportion that seems set to rise. One reason that private investors have become more interested in ETFs is that they provide access to funds that track assets and sectors that were previously only available to larger investors.