Sound economics, good investment: Should you opt for Bharat 22 ETF?

The government announced Bharat 22, an exchange traded fund of 22 large cap shares. While the composition includes mostly profit-making, dividend paying public sector companies, the government is also including some shares of blue chip companies like ITC, Larsen & Toubro and Axis Bank held under the Special Undertaking of Unit Trust of India or SUUTI.
The government observed in the release that over the past 3 years to June 2017, assets under management of exchange traded funds in India surged five times to just under Rs 54,000 crore. The release also emphasized that exchange traded funds or ETFs are a popular class of funds globally. Assets under management are expected to grow to $7 trillion by 2021 from $4 trillion today. There is merit in the argument the government has made in the press release.
ETFs have become a preferred vehicle for parking the long-term money. Sovereign Wealth Funds and Pension Funds worldwide love them. While the average cost of fund management is high in active funds, it is much lower in exchange-traded funds. At the same time, they are relatively less risky with well-defined assets under management. The liquidity of these funds is also high since they are listed on stock exchanges.
