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Saver · 03-12-2008, 12:27 PM

Thanks for the responses,

Alec, the point you bring up about Vanguard’s ETF and MF’s being equally tax efficient is a very important one for me, as that was the deciding factor in my decision to lean towards the ETFs. I called Vanguard and they noted that there was, in fact, still a tax benefit to being in the ETFs, but I remember reading your point in a book on ETFs in the recent past. There are still a few cases in which the ETFs look better (noted below):
1. For emerging markets index exposure, there is a purchase and exit fee on the mutual fund but no such fees exists to my knowledge on the corresponding ETF
2. With Vanguard’s small cap value and growth index funds, the expense ratio on the cheapest mutual funds are 10 basis points higher than on the corresponding ETFs as there are no Admiral shares available for the mutual fund options (not a big expense difference, but I’m being picky about this)
Saver

03-12-2008, 12:27 PM	#4
Saver Dryer sheet wannabe Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 23	Thanks for the responses, Alec, the point you bring up about Vanguard’s ETF and MF’s being equally tax efficient is a very important one for me, as that was the deciding factor in my decision to lean towards the ETFs. I called Vanguard and they noted that there was, in fact, still a tax benefit to being in the ETFs, but I remember reading your point in a book on ETFs in the recent past. There are still a few cases in which the ETFs look better (noted below): 1. For emerging markets index exposure, there is a purchase and exit fee on the mutual fund but no such fees exists to my knowledge on the corresponding ETF 2. With Vanguard’s small cap value and growth index funds, the expense ratio on the cheapest mutual funds are 10 basis points higher than on the corresponding ETFs as there are no Admiral shares available for the mutual fund options (not a big expense difference, but I’m being picky about this) Saver