ETF is the acronym for an innovative financial product, Exchange Traded Fund. It is a type of security that tracks an index, sector, commodity, or other asset. An ETF can be purchased or sold on a stock exchange the same way a regular stock can. An ETF can be structured to track anything from the price of an individual commodity to a large and diverse collection of securities. When trading ETFs, you have many trading opportunities to choose from because the liquidity of an ETF reflects the liquidity of the underlying basket of shares.

Step 1 – Open an account with a broker

You need to have a broker who provides a platform for you to trade ETFs. Lately, you can find many brokers with select ETF trades available on a commission-free basis. This ensures that costs will not be a major impediment as you start. Make a quick sketch and compare the brokers’ cost structures and the benefits available on their platforms. It is at this time that you should be on the lookout for attractive promotions that will help you grow your profits.

Next, consider the educational incentives provided on the platform. An extensive range of training and advisory tools like podcasts and webinars show that a broker also cares about the beginner trader’s investment.

The accounts are easy to create and verify, with most only taking about 10 minutes from start to finish. It would help if you had a bank account number (or a credit card) to ensure you can channel your funds to and from the broker with urgency and safety.

Some brokerages offer unique discount facilities such as being able to buy ETF from your UK and American retirement banking funds like 401(k) or 403(b)s. These ensure that your retirement funds also generate passive income instead of waiting to retire. You can check with your broker whether they have tax advantage accounts that you can benefit from.

Step 2 – Choose the ETFs you like.

Beginners are better off trading in passive index funds as they learn how to operate. They also do not get plenty of surprises from analysts working for the fund. The index funds are also cheaper than those that experts manage. Historically, even the managed funds do not beat the benchmark by a huge margin.

Step 3 – Buy ETFs with historical growth

Once you have funded the account, you can buy some small tranches of growth ETFs. You will need to search for the ticker symbols of the ETFs you have chosen and confirm them from the broker’s platform. Look at their chart performance to confirm you are watching the ETFs you intended to buy. Some broker platforms make it easy to buy ETFs right from the research section of the platform. Otherwise, you can open the trade section where all the ETFs are listed and scroll to the preferred ETF.

Step 4 – Enter market order

Next, select the number of ETF shares you want to purchase and enter a market order. Entering a market order is instant than placing a certain limit order and waiting for the price to reach there. You can, however, place a limit order if you do not mind waiting.

Step 5 – Develop a follow-up plan

ETF trading is not a one-off affair. You will need to keep adjusting your portfolio to accommodate more opportunities. Some people identify some possible trades and accumulate them slowly over time. Furthermore, considering that many people invest in ETFs as a long-term savings plan, it is wise to have a fixed percentage of your monthly income going into your brokerage account. This will help you make more share purchases in the future so that you can reach your investment goals faster. Your broker and bank can let you have a cash standing order clocking into your trading account on an agreed timeframe.

ETFs usually mimic a greater market index such as the S&P 500. Like trading stocks, you can invest in ETF through an exchange and make dividends if you hold on to them. You can also make money as they fluctuate with the specific index. You can, however, buy ETFs from a broker who supports ETF trading facilities. Most of these brokers are available for online trading, as you only need to open an account with an online broker like ATFX.

These brokers give investors the platform to trade in ETFs and provide other essential benefits like training, analysis, news, and technical support. ATFX offers robust analysis to keep you informed and provides a platform that is easy to use.

A good broker will offer various stocks, ETFs, bonds, and currencies that you can mix and match to optimise your portfolio and grow. Furthermore, the ability to trade contracts for differences on ETFs makes it an even more convenient and fun way to invest your money comfortably from home. Using an online broker that supports ETF CFDs can let you tap into an ETF fund and still avoid most of the expenses you would incur if you deal directly with a certain exchange.

When looking for where to buy ETF, consider a broker who offers some of these benefits

1. Choose a platform that has plenty of instruments that you can choose from.
2. The broker offers competent third-party research.
3. A simple and convenient means to log into their platform and trade anytime.
4. Lower commissions will leave more profits to reinvest.
5. The broker should have affordable minimum deposit requirements.

Once you know where to buy an ETF and already have a brokerage account, the next crucial part is choosing which ETF to buy. Some investors will pick the best-performing index, while some will still opt for more boxes to be checked. There are different ways to narrow down to what suits you more.

Some people cluster the available ETFs according to geography, asset type, industry involved, or trading performance. Narrow down your choices using the below steps:

Choice 1 – Low administration cost ETF

Administration costs in ETF investment are also referred to as expense ratios. The lower the expense ratios, the better it is for your investment because you get to keep most of your profits. The average for passive funds in 2020 was 0.12%. This is a good figure, to begin with, but you will still likely find some below that.

Choice 2 – By ETF segment

You can consider what industry segments you want to invest in. This will help you have a general investment strategy that you can tweak anytime you feel that segment is performing differently.

Choice 3 – By investment focus

You can select your choice of ETFs according to your preferred investment focus. Would you want your focus to be on equities or commodities, for example? You can also mix all these but do it according to a certain weighting formula. You can, for example, let your portfolio consist mostly of equities and ETFs rather than commodities. Some commodities ETFs you can find in the market include the INVESCO DB Agriculture Fund. Emerging markets are some of the best ETFs to buy now.

Choice 4 – Add diversification ETF to your portfolio

Even as you capture some of your favourite and unique market segments, you should also spread some of your wealth widely within the segments. If you are buying equity ETFs, you can split the investment between emerging markets and already established markets across the globe. For example, you could pick energy stocks and spread them across the US and the UK. Have a theme, too, if you need to. Renewable energy is rewarding over time, and plenty of companies indirectly thrive, even in different industries like electric cars.

An ETF is an investment instrument that provides exposure over a basket of stocks or bonds with just a single trade. This also occurs at minimal expense compared to buying the instruments individually.

ETFs reduce a lot of trial and error involved with picking a handful of stocks listed and hoping they gain value. They minimise guesswork because your exposure is spread across the market’s overall performance. Historically, a whole index can remain strong through the years.

ETFs are more liquid than other types of investments, such as mutual funds, making it convenient to trade them right from your computer or on the go.

For example, while it takes many steps to invest in bonds, trading and bond ETFs give you one-click access to fixed incomes.

Due to their straightforward nature, ETFs are a good way for expert and beginner traders to participate in the market. They also suit both the hands-off and hands-on investor.

The type of investor you want to be should also convince you to focus more on ETF investment. There are solutions for beginners, expert investors, and hands-on and hands-off investors. With ETFs being an affordable investment, you can choose brokers with robot-advisory integration. These are experts who can help you build a portfolio and help you manage it.

Some investors may argue that there are few opportunities to grow on returns from a whole index compared to buying single stocks. However, this is not true because what they may not tell you is that on losing seasons, you will be safer than someone who bought a huge stock holding from a single company and they plummeted. Even if ETF investment is not free of management costs, they are still very low and worth saving you the headache of managing every stock in a portfolio.

Hands-on investors will find trading ETF orders a suitable way to invest because they can always choose how much to invest per single trade. They can also enjoy real-time price movements and alter their positions depending on market movement. This gives them more control over their portfolio performance compared to mutual funds.