ETFs have opened up a broad array of investment opportunities for institutional and retail investors alike. With one simple trade, ETFs enable investors to get easy and cost competitive exposure to a wide range of asset classes.
ETFs are traded and settled just like any other share on the stock market. Access to liquidity is guaranteed by specialists or market makers who take the public commitment to place constant bid and offer prices on the ETFs under their coverage. These could be index funds, where the investment strategy involves tracking the performance of a certain index (such as IBEX35®).