ETFs within a Mutual Fund’s Portfolio

Abstract

The authors document extensive use of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) within mutual fund portfolios and find that their use grew substantially between 2004 and 2014, in both total dollar value and the number of unique ETFs held. Although the findings are most notable in long ETF positions, they find extensive short ETF positions within the mutual fund industry as well. When looking at the use of inverse or leveraged ETFs, they find far less utilization. As the popularity of ETFs continues to increase, the authors expect that their importance within mutual fund portfolios will continue to grow as well.