stock index ETF's that best match the index they reprsent (TDAmeritrade, mutual funds)

[Johnhw2]

I am retired, 11 years now, and have a financial adviser manage my money and investments. I am considering a shift to an adviser who uses ETF's to invest and does so a much lower fees than a full service broker. My question is which ETF's most closely mimic the index they claim to represent?

I could not find a morningstar type rater of the major ETF's indexes. Is there one?

Am I off base wanting to see this as the ETF's mimic their index close enough?

[mathjak107]

odds are most of us will not mimic the index's regardless .

we all buy in different times , we rebalance at different times , we sell at different times , we have different tax structures and even index funds vary in expenses and their investment methods .

many are not pure index and loan out stocks or swap minor issues so they don't need to own every stock .

this is an old list of differences in some funds , but you get the idea as to the fact there is always tracking error and differences . the purest is spy .

[lottamoxie]

OP,

Here are some ratings of the best ETFs

S&P500:

https://www.investopedia.com/investing/top-sp-500-etfs/


Nasdaq:

https://www.investopedia.com/article...p-etfs-nasdaq/

[rjm1cc]

I would hope the new advisor can answer your questions and you are just doing a check on him as we all should.


You might want an ETF that does not match the index. For example maybe one that does not have Apple and Amazon. The point is look at the ETF's that meet your needs and not just the ones that follow the major indexes.

[Johnhw2]

Thanks you all for the input. This addresses my question. I am doing due diligence before switching and am leaning toward switching part not all of my assets.

I am energy sector heavy in my assets so an index diversified away from energy is needed to get my portfolio properly adjusted even if I want to mimic the SP500.

[loves2read]

Have you read articles and heard comments that ETFs are more responsive to market volatility than mutual funds? That the growth of ETFs and index funds in that format might influence volatility in themselves?

Personally, our FA switched many of our funds to ETFs from mutual funds when we moved from Fidelity to TDAmeritrade platform
(his company’s choice not a personal request from us or his other clients)...
Not something I really felt the need to do—
We didn’t get a price cut on fees when they did that...

Your advisor is giving you the benefit of lower cost of these investments—but cost isn’t the only factor

And you may have to deal with sector funds in certain % if you really want to avoid a specific sector like Energy...EXXON would likely be in any large cap fund as would other energy companies in mid or small caps...

During the 08/-09 crunch the fund that came out the best was one where the director avoided banks and mortgage companies based on his personal aversion to what he felt were unhealthy business practices—
Can’t remember the name for certain and it has not maintained that ascendancy since then