ETF Inflows Set a Record in July. The Fee Mix Moved at the Same Time.

In July, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) took in $193 billion. That pushed the year-to-date total to $1.23 trillion, a record for that seven-month period. But there was an important underlying shift taking place that investors need to be aware of. It's good news for companies like BlackRock (NYSE: BLK), but it could be bad news for individual investors who keep buying ETFs. Here's what you need to know. The first exchange-traded fund ever created tracked the S&P 500 index. It made total sense to use the S&P 500 index (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC), since it is basically considered "the market" by most investors. The unique structure of ETFs allowed the fund, SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: SPY), to offer a shockingly low expense ratio of just 0.09%. Image source: Getty Images.Continue readingWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool