The latest in funds and investments in North America.

Schwab has added 25 exchange-traded funds to its commission-free ETF range.

The additions mean that clients can access 539 ETFs covering 83 Morningstar categories of fund.

ETFs come from 15 providers: Aberdeen Standard Investments, ALPS, DWS Group, Direxion, Global X Funds, IndexIQ, Invesco ETFs, iShares ETFs, John Hancock Investment Management, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, PIMCO, State Street Global Advisors SPDR® ETFs, USCF, WisdomTree and Charles Schwab Investment Management.

The market for exchange-traded funds, a form of "passive investment", has surged in recent years as investors have to some extent shifted from more expensive, actively-run funds to those that track indices or automate the investment process in various ways. Rising regulatory costs, demand for more transparency over fees, and disenchantment with the ability of some active managers to beat markets, has helped drive the industry's growth.

“From day one, our priority with the Schwab ETF OneSource program has been to provide a broad lineup of commission-free ETFs that spans a variety of asset classes and index weightings to make it simple for investors and advisors to build highly diversified, commission-free ETF portfolios," Kari Droller, vice president of third-party mutual fund and ETF platforms at Schwab, said.