The Financial Post reports in its Friday edition that exchange-traded funds are good for passive index-tracking, while mutual funds are good for active stock management. The Post's Ian Bickis writes that now we have active ETFs, where portfolio managers are trying to beat an index with their stock picks. These are a fast-growing preference for Canadians. The industry is rushing to meet growing demand. So far this year, 71 per cent of new ETFs launched have been active, the highest share ever, and 30 per cent of total industry flows have gone into the category. The push to offer active ETFs comes as Canadian investors are increasingly turning away from higher-cost mutual funds. The two products can offer similar approaches, and both pool money into a fund that buys into a selection of stocks, bonds and other assets. But the infrastructure behind mutual funds is much more costly than for ETFs. Cost is one reason why active ETFs are gaining momentum, with average management expense ratios of 0.53 per cent, whereas mutual fund fees are typically over 1 per cent. ETFs of all kinds gained $33-billion in new assets in the first six months of the year, while mutual funds saw outflows of $8-billion, according to TD Securities.