The ETF Screener on Dhan gives you a free view of all 250+ Exchange Traded Funds that are listed on Indian stock exchanges. Here's what the tool offers:

• Complete ETF data: The rows list the names of the fund, AMC, expense ratio, category and sub-category tags, along with AUM and returns over 1, 3, and 5 years.
• AMC and category filters: You can use the AMC filter to narrow down the list of ETFs from a specific fund house. The category filter helps to sort ETFs by broad categories and sub-categories.
• Expense ratio filter: Investors can filter funds by cost bands, Below 0.1%, Below 0.5%, Below 1%, and Above 1%, to find the cheapest options in a category.

An ETF is a collection or basket of securities, including stocks, bonds, gold, or a mix of these. The fund tracks an underlying index or commodity, and it is listed on a stock exchange. This means you can trade it like an individual stock.

For example, when you buy a unit of the SBI Nifty 50 ETF, you are purchasing a proportional share of all the 50 companies that make up the Nifty 50, in the same weights that the index is composed of. This makes it different from buying individual stocks. A single transaction gives you a diversified exposure, and there’s no need to buy each underlying asset separately.

In India, most ETFs are passively funded. The job of the fund manager is to mirror the underlying index as closely as possible, not to beat the index. That’s why ETFs carry some of the lowest costs among all investment vehicles involving pooled investments. Active decision-making is far less required for ETFs compared to a traditional mutual fund scheme.

ETFs are different from mutual funds in terms of pricing. In the case of mutual funds, you can transact once a day at the NAV at the end of the trading day. For an ETF, the unit price keeps moving continuously through the trading session, just like stock prices. Two important figures matter in this context.

• NAV: NAV refers to the official Net Asset Value. It is calculated once at the end of the trading day, based on the closing value of the underlying holdings of the fund.
• iNAV (Indicative NAV): iNAV is a real-time, intraday estimate of the fair value of the fund. This number is recalculated every few seconds during market hours based on the live prices of the underlying constituents.

Market makers and Authorised Participants (APs) use the gap between the live traded price of the ETF and its iNAV to buy or sell units. They also correct any potential mispricing. This keeps the exchange price of the ETF close to the value that it actually holds.

However, if a wide, persistent gap is noticed between the traded price and iNAV, it indicates that the ETF is thinly traded. This explains why liquidity and daily traded volumes are as important as returns when you shortlist a fund.

On Dhan, each row of the ETF screener carries the following data:

• Name: The column contains the name of the listed ETF, which is tagged with its relevant category (Broad Index, Commodities, Sectoral, etc.) and sub-category (Nifty 50, Gold, Sensex, etc.).
• Asset (Cr.): This is the market cap of the fund in crores. You can sort this value by clicking the header of the column.
• 1-Year Returns: This row shows the trailing one-year return of the fund. It reveals how the underlying index or commodity has performed over the last twelve months.
• 3-Year Returns: It shows the absolute trailing return over three years, which helps investors to understand the performance across a fuller market cycle.
• 5-Year Returns: This shows the absolute trailing five-year return figures, which provide the longest horizon to evaluate consistency.
• Expense Ratio: The expense ratio is the annual fee charged by the AMC. It is calculated as a percentage of the average net assets of the fund and is deducted daily from the NAV.

The ETF screener on Dhan comes with some filters and a search bar that helps you narrow down suitable options from a list of more than 250 ETFs.

• AMC filter: If you already have a fund house in mind, you can use the AMC filter to find all the funds from that house. This feature also allows investors to compare multiple ETFs from the same fund house side by side.
• Category filter: The category filter allows you to filter funds based on the index exposure you want or thematic funds you choose.
• Sub-category filter: Once you've picked a category, you can narrow down further to find the exact theme or index.
• Expense ratio filter: Cost is a crucial factor to consider, as most ETFs tracking the same index carry similar expense ratios. This filter helps you filter out expensive funds within a category.
• Search bar: You can simply type the name of a fund in the search bar. Jump straight into a specific fund without browsing the entire list.
• Clear filters: The broom icon removes all the filters and resets the page back in a single click, so that you can start screening over again.

• Expense ratio: It’s the annual fee that an AMC charges to manage the fund, expressed as a percentage of assets, and deducted daily from the NAV.
• AUM (Assets Under Management): It’s the total market value of all the assets currently held by a fund.
• NAV: It’s the value per unit of the holdings of a fund, calculated at the end of each trading day.
• iNAV: iNAV is an estimate of the fair value of an ETF during market hours, which is updated continuously and used to keep the traded price aligned with the underlying assets.
• Tracking error: It shows the extent to which the returns from an ETF deviate from the returns of its underlying index.
• Authorised Participant (AP): An AP is a market intermediary permitted to create or redeem large blocks of ETF shares directly with the fund. The mechanism keeps the market price of the ETF anchored to its NAV.
• Broad-based Index ETF: It’s a kind of ETF that tracks a diversified market index like the Nifty 50 or Sensex, including multiple sectors.
• Thematic or Sectoral ETF: It’s an ETF concentrated in a specific sector like banking or IT, or an investment theme like defence, EVs, or manufacturing.

Investors gain a few practical benefits from screening ETFs on Dhan.

• Everything in one table: The screener contains all the AMCs along with their categories, AUM, three return windows, and expense ratios side by side. So, you don’t have to open the factsheet of each fund individually to compare the basics.
• Layered filtering: The filtering system combines AMC, category, sub-category and expense ratio. This helps to narrow down suitable funds in a few clicks.
• Direct access to invest: Each row is linked to the individual page of a fund, from where an investor can directly place an order. There’s no separate trading terminal involved.