Benefits of Exchange-traded fund

Investor benefits of an ETF:

reduced exposure to the risks associated with trading single shares
straightforward access to the performance of key indices and sectors
no stamp duty to pay (duty already paid on the underlying investments)
low annual management costs compared to other pooled investment vehicles ( the costs are built into the fund pricing)
daily continuous pricing mirror the share price performance of the underlying investments
flexibility in the timing of purchases and sales
availability online and with stock-market settlement systems

Investors cannot attend shareholder meetings of the underlying equities as you own shares in the ETF, not in the underlying shares. The cost of trading in ETFs shares is the same as other share dealing service charges, with the same dealing commission for trading ETFs as for other equities. Importantly, there is no Stamp Duty to pay on an ETF, as the fund managers have already paid duty when buying the underlying shares - there are no additional charges for the individual shareholder.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exchange_traded_fund