An ETF pioneer, ETFGI’s Deborah Fuhr, singles out her industry’s biggest challenge - "The top challenge for the ETF industry, ironically, it is still education."

Much has been said about exchange-traded funds, a booming part of the investing world. These funds, which mostly track key benchmarks like the S&P 500, have attracted $5 trillion in investor money globally, topping hedge funds’ assets under management. But ETFs remain misunderstood, says Deborah Fuhr, co-founder and managing partner for research firm ETFGI.

“I think the top challenge for the ETF industry, ironically, is still education. When I started covering ETFs in ’97, I thought I would have a job for two years, and everyone would know what they were, and we’d move on,” the London-based Fuhr told MarketWatch in a recent interview.

More education is needed in large part because ETFs are providing exposure to a growing range of asset classes, according to Fuhr, who has been called “an ETF pioneer in Europe” by information provider ETF.com. The indexes that ETFs track are evolving as well, she said.