{"url":"https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-an-etf","section":"learn","title":"What is an ETF? | ETFIQ","description":"As of Nov 4, 2026, 5,068 ETFs trade in the US with $15.9 trillion in net assets, and the median fund charges 0.55% a year. Updated every trading night.","as_of":"Nov 4, 2026","structured_data":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-an-etf#article","headline":"What is an ETF?","description":"As of Nov 4, 2026, 5,068 ETFs trade in the US with $15.9 trillion in net assets, and the median fund charges 0.55% a year.","url":"https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-an-etf","mainEntityOfPage":"https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-an-etf","dateModified":"2026-11-04","datePublished":"2026-11-04","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"ETFIQ Research","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"ETFIQ Research","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"about":"What is an ETF?","inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-an-etf#questions","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is the difference between an ETF and a mutual fund?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"An ETF trades on an exchange all day at a changing price. A mutual fund trades once a day at its closing value. ETFIQ covers ETFs only."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How many ETFs are there?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"ETFIQ covers 5,068 US-listed ETFs as of Nov 4, 2026, together holding $15.9 trillion in net assets."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Where does an ETF get its price?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The market sets it through trading. A mechanism called creation and redemption keeps the price close to the value of the basket inside."}}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ETFIQ","item":"https://etfiq.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Learn","item":"https://etfiq.com/learn/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"What is an ETF?","item":"https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-an-etf"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"What is an ETF?","description":"As of Nov 4, 2026, 5,068 ETFs trade in the US with $15.9 trillion in net assets, and the median fund charges 0.55% a year. Updated every trading night.","url":"https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-an-etf","dateModified":"2026-11-04","isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".lede",".faq"]},"publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"}}],"characters":1929,"truncated":false,"content":"ETFIQ / Learn / What is an ETF? \n \n What is an ETF?\n Data as of Nov 4, 2026. Rebuilt every trading night.\n As of Nov 4, 2026, 5,068 ETFs trade in the US with $15.9 trillion in net assets, and the median fund charges 0.55% a year.\n \n In plain words\n An ETF is a fund whose shares trade on an exchange all day, like a stock. It owns a basket of securities, and each share is a slice of it. Most ETFs follow an index such as the S&P 500; 1,200 are run by a manager who picks the holdings. \n Both publish what they own and charge a yearly fee, with a median of 0.55%. ETFIQ puts every fund in one category by what it owns, so funds are only compared with funds that do the same job.\n Questions\n What is the difference between an ETF and a mutual fund? An ETF trades on an exchange all day at a changing price. A mutual fund trades once a day at its closing value. ETFIQ covers ETFs only.\n How many ETFs are there? ETFIQ covers 5,068 US-listed ETFs as of Nov 4, 2026, together holding $15.9 trillion in net assets.\n Where does an ETF get its price? The market sets it through trading. A mechanism called creation and redemption keeps the price close to the value of the basket inside.\n Where to next\n Screener: filter every ETF Compare two ETFs All funds A to Z What are ETF net assets? What is an actively managed ETF? What is an ETF expense ratio? All ETF explainers How ETFIQ computes these numbers \n Cite this page. ETFIQ, What is an ETF?, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-an-etf Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms. The underlying files are at Open data .\n Other forms Plain ETFIQ, What is an ETF?, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-an-etf APA ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). What is an ETF?. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-an-etf Markdown [What is an ETF? (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-an-etf)","source":"ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","license_text":"Data ETFIQ computes is free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.","citation":"ETFIQ, What is an ETF?, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-an-etf"}