Does anyone know if the tax choices are different? I recall mutual funds had average cost basis, but ETFs don't. I know ETFs have FIFO, HIFO and lot selection for deciding which shares were sold for tax purposes. Do mutual funds have those choices?
Mutual funds are only bought/sold at one institution, so transferring mutual funds can incur fees. Not so of stocks and ETFs, which are listed on public exchanges.
I view ETFs as more transparent. Vanguard tells everyone what is inside it's mutual funds, but you have to take their word for it. An ETF is replenished by huge institutional investors outside the company that runs the ETF. They have to know the contents, so they can buy hundreds of thousands of shares of each stock, and convert those shares into blocks of ETF shares. I've noticed third party websites have better information on ETFs, which reinforces that point.