Ameritrade is trying to sell exchange-traded funds (ETFs), literally. The discount broker is allowing all current and prospective investors to make five free ETF trades within the month of June.

"Our research has shown that most individual investors are not familiar with ETFs, with the opposite being true for institutional investors, who have utilized these funds for years," said Joe Moglia, chief executive officer.

Ameritrade Makes the Case
Fund	Front End Load	Expense Ratio
ETF	N/A	0.11%
Index Mutual Fund	N/A	0.35%
No-load Actively Managed Fund	N/A	1.50%
Front-end load Actively Managed Fund	0.75%	1.50%
Source: Ameritrade website

Ameritrade launched an "ETF Center" on its website in mid-February, citing the potential benefits of ETFs to short- and long-term investors. The site has ETF-related news content, an analysis "making the case" for ETFs over mutual funds, and an ETF screener based on style or sponsor.

Ameritrade's ETF center received 20,000 hits per week in April, said spokeswoman Kim Hill.

When questioned about the specific motives for Ameritrade's ETF efforts, Hill said the broker is attempting to increase awareness of the product. No specific ETFs are promoted over others, Hill added.

The site offers ETFs sponsored by the Bank of New York, Barclays Global Fund Advisors, Fidelity Mgmt & Research, Powershares Capital Management, Rydex Global Advisors, State Street Bank & Trust, UBS Global Asset Management, and Vanguard.
 

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