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Glossary term

ETF

In plain English

Exchange-Traded Fund. A bundle of many stocks (or bonds) you can buy in a single trade — like buying a fruit basket instead of one apple at a time.

Formal definition

A pooled fund whose shares trade on an exchange and typically track an index.

Example

SPY is an ETF that holds all 500 companies in the S&P 500.

Educational only. TrustFirst is not a registered investment adviser and does not provide personalized investment advice. This definition is written to teach the concept; it is not a recommendation to take any specific action.