Eight Lessons Learned

Here are the most important things the author has learned covering the exchange-traded-fund market: 1. There's no holy writ for passive investing. 2. Management fees are one of the few things you can control, so control them. 3. Don't let higher costs overshadow strong returns. 4. "Smart beta" is only smart some of the time. 5. Similarly: Complexity is the enemy. 6. Niche ETFs -- even simple ones -- are more like gambling on stocks than conventional index investing. 7. Be careful with tough-to-access markets. 8. Beware the marketing machine.