We have five types of ETFs in India: equity, debt, gold, global, and smart beta.
Equity ETFs are index-based passive investment vehicles that invest in securities in the same proportion as the underlying index.
Debt ETFs like equity ETFs, provide exposure to a basket of securities, in this case bonds and other debt products.
Gold ETF are instruments that invest in gold bullion and are based on gold prices. A gold ETF's holdings are completely transparent due to its link to the price of gold.
Global ETFs invest primarily in foreign securities. These ETFs may track global markets or a specific country's benchmark index.
Smart Beta ETFs are made up of a selection of stocks based on specific criteria. Frequently, the criteria is a factor or a combination of factors such as low volatility, value, quality, or momentum. A Nifty Smart Beta ETF with a low volatility focus, for example, would invest in stocks from the 50-stock index that are less volatile than their peers.