The first wave of growth in the ETF industry came as investors embraced the exchange-traded structure as an improvement over traditional actively mutual funds–a more cost-efficient and tax-friendly way to access traditional asset classes such as stocks and bonds. But in recent years much of the growth in ETF assets has been attributable to “democratizing” [...] Related Stories: Definitive Guide To Preferred Stock ETF Investing Preferred Stock ETFs Continue Winning Streak Preferred Stock ETFs Still Popular