ETFs V index tracker funds?

long_boy

Registered User
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I'm a newbie to the investing scene and trying to figure out the differences between EFTs and index linked funds (Eg Quinn Life). I've searched the forums but still no clearer.

As far as I can tell the EFTs seem attractive because of the potential for low annual fees (eg 0.7%) but the taxation on profits is anything but clear as they can be offshore. Is there much difference between the 2? I'm interested in investing in various index linked funds (such as QL) but unsure if EFTs are cheaper options or if they are completely different products?
 
Re: EFT V Index Linked Funds?

It's ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) not EFT.

Check out the key posts linked at the top of this forum - they include some on ETFs and index trackers that might help you.
 
Re: EFT V Index Linked Funds?

Thanks Clubman - silly typo, oops :eek:

I've gone though the key posts and done some searches but can't find a good explanation of ETFs - got it right this time:). I've a good idea about trackers
 
Re: EFT V Index Linked Funds?

Have you tried searching for previous threads on ETFs and index trackers?
 
Re: EFT V Index Linked Funds?

ETFs are very popular in North America and are becomming more popular in Europe. You can get basic information on ETFs in a number of locations such as yahoo [broken link removed].

For basic index trackers I don't see hugh differences between ETFs and unit trust offered by the likes of Quinn although some other providers of index trackers in the Irish marketplace do penalise you if you hold your investment for less than 5 years.

There seems to be a greater variety of ETFs than unit trust trackers so you might want to look at ETFs if you are not satisfied with what provided by the likes of Quinn direct.

The taxation of ETFs has been discussed on the board before.
 
From a charges perspective, my understanding is that the charges on ETFs are included in the fund price - not very clear, though you can find this out.

Investing in funds via Quinn means that you'll be paying their charges on top of the ETF charges as well.

So, to check out, if you can buy, hold and sell and ETF for less than the charges from Quinn over the same period of time, then it's more cost efficient.
 
So as far as I can tell this is what I need to do to get started with ETFs:
1. Pick a particular ETF, eg one from iShares
2. Setup a crest account (seems to be the preferred choice over nominee for safety/security)
3. Buy the ETFs

Is this correct? Is there an appropriate best buys list for this? I've looked through the list of stockbrokers and the fees seem very high. It makes QL look quite attrative or is there a more cost effective way to do what I'm talking about? Are there other online European stockbrokers that offer cheaper execution only services?
 
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