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Are you ready to invest?
- Check if you're ready to invest
- Firsts with Fidelity
- How mutual funds work
- How exchange-traded funds (ETFs) work
- How investments trusts work
- How shares work
Are you ready to invest?
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Important information - the value of investments, and the income from them, can go down as well as up, so you may get back less than you invest. When investing in overseas markets, changes in currency exchange rates may affect the value of your investment.
What is an ETF?
ETFsare funds that issue shares, which are traded on a stock exchange. ETFs cover a broad range of asset classes and can give exposure to specific markets, sectors or investment strategies. Many ETFs track an index in order to provide this return.
How they work
ETFs can provide exposure to a variety of asset classes such as equities or fixed income by:
- following the performance of a market index, such as the FTSE 100 or the S&P 500
- following the performance of asmart beta index, such as S&P 500 Minimum Volatility or MSCI Europe Value
- being actively managed by an experienced and dedicated manager
Why you may be interested
Bought and sold throughout the day
Like any stock on an exchange, ETFs can be traded at any time when the exchange it's listed on is open.
Typically low operating expenses
Passively tracking an index is less expensive than active fund management.
Easy access to a diverse portfolio
ETFs give you instant access to international markets as well as commodities such as gold, silver and precious metals.
ETF investment strategies
Benefits of investing in ETFs
With ETFs in general you know exactly what you're investing in. Many ETFs provide daily visibility as to what securities the fund holds, how the ETF is performing and Total Expense Ratio (TER) costs. When investing in an ETF you know exactly what price you’re paying for units, unlike mutual funds.
Risks of investing in ETFs
There are, however, a number of things to consider.
Choosing an ETF
Explore our full range of ETFs to search, filter and select your favourite, including the iShares Core Series by BlackRock and our smart beta ETFs.
Find an ETF
What is currency hedging?
When investing internationally an investor is effectively making two investments - one in the foreign equity itself and the other in the exchange rate value of that investment. Unhedged international investments tend to be more volatile as they are exposed to the risk and return of both equities and foreign exchange. Currency hedging strategies aim to mitigate this risk. They allow separation of equity market risk from currency risk and therefore allow more accurate implementation of investment views.
An award-winning service
We are proud to have been awarded Best Execution-Only Broker 2021 and Best App 2021 at the most recent Shares Awards.
See our awards
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Please remember that past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance, the performance of investments is not guaranteed, and the value of your investments can go down as well as up, so you may get back less than you invest. When investments have particular tax features, these will depend on your personal circ*mstances and tax rules may change in the future. This website does not contain any personal recommendations for a particular course of action, service or product. You should regularly review your investment objectives and choices and, if you are unsure whether an investment is suitable for you, you should contact an authorised financial adviser. Before opening an account, please read the ‘Doing Business with Fidelity’ document which incorporates our client terms. Prior to investing into a fund, please read the relevant key information document which contains important information about the fund.
This website is issued by Financial Administration Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) (FCA Register number 122169) and registered in England and Wales under company number 1629709 whose registered address is Beech Gate, Millfield Lane, Lower Kingswood, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 6RP.
