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What Makes a Good ETF Site?

by Johanna

During the research for the 2008 Top Web Sites for Financial Intermediaries report, I had the opportunity to review a number of prominent ETF provider Web sites, which got me thinking: What are the important differences between ETF and mutual fund (or other product)-focused Web sites? How does the criteria for an excellent ETF site differ from other types? A few key distinctions came to mind:

Importance of the Index: In addition to including information about the past performance and the goal of the ETF, it is also important to provide in-depth information about the underlying index. For example, Van Eck has a section within each product profile dedicated to index information. Especially with more products and varied product themes, understanding the inner workings of the underlying index becomes important for transparency and product differentiation.

Retail and Intermediary focus: Few mutual fund advisor sites have a section dedicated to "What is a Mutual Fund" or "Mutual Fund 101," even though this type of basic education is important for investors (who are an important Web audience). Furthermore, for newer products within the ETN space, the basic product education becomes paramount because many advisors really don't know what ETNs are or how to use them effectively.

Data Availability: Some mutual fund-focused firms pride themselves on the historical breadth and depth of pricing and performance information. On some sites, advisors can choose the historical time period to call up whichever combination of information data a decade or more back into the past. What about ETF sites? Given that the surge of product development didn't really get into full swing until after 2000, historical information really won't help. Instead, ETF sites do (and should) focus on presenting the data they have in interestingly visual ways. For example, ishares.com has charting tools for index error tracking.

Of course ETF Web sites cannot simply focus on the differences in products and audiences. Universal characteristics such as comprehensive site search and intuitive navigation, in addition to detailed and comprehensive content, are mandates for all product provider Web sites.