Have ETFs reached the level of fad? One cannot help but wonder with the latest ETF launch covered by the Wall Street Journal. The Global X-advised fund has a profile that could remind one of a mutual fund launched in 1999. It is focused on just 25 stocks, it will invest in social media companies and it has "significant exposure to Chinese Internet firms." The latter allocation makes the ETF's exposure to LinkedIn its safe bet.

Global X Funds CEO Bruno del Ama does not see a problem with any of that. He calls it a "a pretty simple way to make sure you're exposed to the full sector." ETFs are baskets of shares that trade like a single stock.

Fully 37 percent of the fund's assets are invested in Chinese firms (Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Sina Corp.) while just 26 percent is in U.S. stocks, including Google, Groupon and Pandora Media.

The article did not mention whether the fund is based on an index or is essentially an active ETF.  

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