Apple moves retirement plan to all-ETFs

Apple has made the momentous decision to move its entire retirement plan to exchange traded funds (ETFs), according to Employee Benefit News.  ETFs are investment funds which track (in value) a particular index (e.g., S&P 500, Wikipedia) They are characterized by low fees and high liquidity.  They have established a favorable track record compared to mutual funds and individual stocks. Nevertheless, employer sponsored retirement plans have been slow to adopt ETFs.  This is primarily due to technological obstacles to record keeping for the intra-day trading characteristics of ETFs.  However, self- directed brokerage accounts offered to some employees can circumnavigate such obstacles.   The Apple decision may be cause more more employers to consider ETFs, and the resultant demand may push the needed technological improvements.