Dave Nadig, director of research and CIO at ETF Trends, ETF Database, told ETF Wrap that although the proposal, if it is realized would represent “a significant blow to the advantage ETFs have traditionally enjoyed vs. mutual funds,” he sees ETFs still maintaining a number of benefits.

Those benefits include “generally cost, flexibility and tradability, transparency,” wrote Nadig.

“So it’s hardly a ‘ETFs are dead’ situation. It just removes one particular advantage,”

Proponents of ETFs make the case that those funds have democratized access to the market, giving investors of all stripes the ability to gain access to areas and strategies that they would not easily get access to without paying hefty fees.

Invesco makes the case that more than 50% of those born between 1981 and 1996 consider ETFs the primary investment type in their portfolios.

Advocates of ETFs also note that longer-term holders would likely see the greatest harm under the Wyden proposal.