I believe you are confusing ETF with active vs passive investing. Passive (index) mutual funds can have a corresponding ETF, same with actively managed funds/ETF. The main difference is that ETF can be traded throughout the day while mutual funds settle once per day, at least at places like Vanguard and Schwab. Also, mutual funds allow fractional purchases while ETFs do not. Generally, mutual funds are better than ETFs if you are a long term investor type where you don’t care about ups and downs throughout the day and not going to trade during the day. I’d also say that mutual fund fees are usually cheaper than corresponding ETF. It doesn’t matter that much though if you pick mutual fund or its ETF - they represent the same securities just wrapped in a different package.
I believe you are confusing ETF with active vs passive investing. Passive (index) mutual funds can have a corresponding ETF, same with actively managed funds/ETF. The main difference is that ETF can be traded throughout the day while mutual funds settle once per day, at least at places like Vanguard and Schwab. Also, mutual funds allow fractional purchases while ETFs do not. Generally, mutual funds are better than ETFs if you are a long term investor type where you don’t care about ups and downs throughout the day and not going to trade during the day. I’d also say that mutual fund fees are usually cheaper than corresponding ETF. It doesn’t matter that much though if you pick mutual fund or its ETF - they represent the same securities just wrapped in a different package.
You’re right. I mistakenly came to conflate ETF with passive.