Gail Bebee asks: Has the death knell sounded for mutual funds?

Author Gail Bebee sent me the following message with the above dramatic title:

"New exchange-traded funds from a Big Five Canadian bank will compete with mutual funds

Toronto, June 17 – The Bank of Montreal (BMO) is getting into the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) business with an offering of seven funds which largely mimic existing products from ETF industry leader, iShares. Says independent investor and personal finance author Gail P. Bebee “ETFs, the low cost alternative to Canada’s high fee mutual funds, are making major inroads into the mutual fund business and BMO wants to profit from this trend. The good news is that a major bank is offering ETFs to clients, so more Canadians will learn about the benefits of investing using ETFs instead of mutual funds. Hopefully, BMO’s decision will motivate other Canadian banks to launch their own ETFs. Canadian consumers will be the winners.”

According to Bebee, ETFs offer several advantages over mutual funds:

1. Better returns than most equivalent funds

2. Lower management fees

3. Greater tax efficiency

4. Ability to buy and sell throughout the trading day.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Gail Bebee

Personal finance speaker and author of No Hype - The Straight Goods on Investing Your Money

All the investing basics for Canadians from a savvy financial industry outsider

Tel: 416-733-0221

gbebee@nohypeinvesting.com

www.nohypeinvesting.com"

To which I would comment, I hope not a death knell since there is nothing inherently wrong with the concept and structure of mutual funds. It's just that the current fees are so darn high, they do not provide good value to investors. However, the ability of mutual funds to take small amounts of new money efficiently and to automatically reinvest distributions and keep track of tax info such as Adjusted Cost Base are worthwhile attributes. Some fund company in Canada needs to go the route of Vanguard in the USA by providing ultra-low cost index funds.

The flight from mutual funds that Bebee refers to may just be a good thing. It reminds me of the situation many years ago when Canada's wine industry (which was more aptly described as the whine industry) contentedly produced horrible stuff in high volume until free trade opened up competition and the industry successfully shifted to high-value, high-quality niche wines. I hope the surge of ETFs is a wake-up call to mutual fund providers.