The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that exchange-traded funds are attracting a lot of money, but their rising popularity among investors may be leaving some areas of the Canadian stock market unexplored. The Globe's David Berman writes that Stephen Takacsy, chief executive officer of Montreal-based Lester Asset Management, has been discovering a lot of cheap stocks and takeover candidates in Canada's small- and mid-cap spaces and he figures that ETFs just might have something to do with it. Mr. Takacsy said that a lot of the money flowing into ETFs is coming out of actively managed mutual funds. Since ETFs tend to focus on popular or well-travelled areas of the stock market, there may be less money looking for a home in some of the market's nooks and crannies. Mr. Takacsy said he believes that Andrew Peller, Plaza Retail REIT and Ten Peaks Coffee Company are good opportunities that fit with his theme: Small companies that do not usually get much attention. Perhaps more importantly, these stocks also are not members of the S&P/TSX composite index, so the biggest ETFs are oblivious to them. Cheap, low-profile stocks, adds Mr. Takacsy, are also being picked off by acquirers.