Who owns ETFs?

When you buy an ETF, you own shares of the fund. The ETF, in turn, owns the underlying securities (or holds derivatives/other instruments depending on the structure) for the benefit of shareholders.

That means you don't directly own the individual stocks or bonds in the ETF, but you have an economic claim through the fund. This is similar to how mutual funds work, just with intraday exchange trading.

In practice, ownership questions matter most for taxes, voting (some ETFs vote proxies on your behalf), and how distributions are handled. Those details are typically explained in the fund's disclosures and policies.