In another edition of infrequent “charts that need no further explanation” one can see below a chart from The Economist documenting the growth in the number of and assets under management by the global exchange traded fund industry.

Source:  Economist.com

The article notes tha the ETF industry was one of the few segments of the financial industry to escape the financial crisis and economic downturn largely unscathed.  That does not mean that growth in ETFs is issue-free.  Potential issues the article identifies for investors include the launch of higher expense and more specialized funds.