The future of ETFs

The exchange traded fund industry has been a pretty heady growth curve and the innovation has been interesting. But at the 7th Annual World Series of ETFs, there was grumbling going on. To some the latest wave of ETFs represent the height of esoterica that is eroding some of the category's brand appeal, which it won earlier with a basic offering that tracked big indexes. Since then, ETFs proliferated, moving toward narrow sectors. Also, alternative asset class ETFs have increasingly cropped up, as have leveraged bear and bull plays. These most recent offerings, while innovative, are not likely to have broad appeal. Some think the target consumer is at risk of confusion. Some sort of slowdown may be coming.

For more:
- here's a MarketWatch article