Origins of ETFs
ETFs are relatively new. ETF trading on U.S. exchanges started in 1993, when the American Stock Exchange created the Standard & Poor's Depository Receipts, better known as the SPDR, which tracks the S&P 500. That one fund in 1993 spawned the more than 700 funds in existence today. Figure 1.2 depicts the rapid growth in the number of ETFs in the United States.
![Figure 1.2](/content/images/chap1_9780137054268/elementLinks/th01tpp02.jpg)
Figure 1.2 ETFs in the United States by year
(Source: Investment Company Institute, www.icifactbook.org)
At the same time, the assets under management have also gone up to more than half a trillion dollars, as shown in Figure 1.3.
![Figure 1.3](/content/images/chap1_9780137054268/elementLinks/th01tpp03.jpg)
Figure 1.3 Assets under management (billions of dollars)
(Source: Investment Company Institute, www.icifactbook.org)