The success of the Bharat Bond issue where PSU bonds were sold through an exchange-traded fund (ETFs are mutual funds that mimic an index and list on the stock exchange) and the use of ETFs earlier for equity disinvestment of public sector firms has rung alarm bells in the plush offices of the life insurance industry. To see how they are connected, we will have to use a wide-angle lens and watch from 30,000 feet. The story is about who gets to be the pipe that connects savings to investments, and shaves off a few basis points to a few percentage points of costs, as it does so. Households and firms generate savings, which becomes the raw material for firms for their investments, that they use to start a new business or expand an existing one. Firms will either borrow or sell their equity to get the funds. Banks, insurance firms, mutual funds and pension funds are the pipes that connect savers to users (both borrowers and equity sellers).