The deserved popularity of ETFs

European exchange-traded funds are back in favour despite the crisis in the eurozone. But as always, watch out for costs, says Paul Amery.

After a year dominated by the eurozone crisis, 2012 saw a return to popularity for Europe's exchange-traded fund (ETF) market. The amount of money invested in ETFs and related products hit a new high of $367bn, up 23% on 2011.

Worldwide, assets are approaching a new high-water mark of $2trn, with the US driving growth. Vanguard, the US-based fund manager that's renowned for its index funds, took in an industry record of $141bn of new cash last year.

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Paul Amery

Paul is a multi-award-winning journalist, currently an editor at New Money Review. He has contributed an array of money titles such as MoneyWeek, Financial Times, Financial News, The Times, Investment and Thomson Reuters. Paul is certified in investment management by CFA UK and he can speak more than five languages including English, French, Russian and Ukrainian. On MoneyWeek, Paul writes about funds such as ETFs and the stock market.