# What is an ETF?

> 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.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026. Rebuilt every trading night.

## What is an ETF?

Data as of Nov 4, 2026. Rebuilt every trading night.

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.

### In plain words

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.

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.

### Questions

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.

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.

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.

### Where to next

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Source: ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.
Cite: ETFIQ, What is an ETF?, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/learn/what-is-an-etf
Licence: https://etfiq.com/license/ Data ETFIQ computes is free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.
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