E*Trade Group is readying its own version of folios to compete with Fidelity, Schwab and the startups, reports today's Wall Street Journal. The offering will be available later this month, according to the report. Officials of the firms have not yet been available for comment.

The paper reports that E*Trade is basing its offerings on 5 indexes owned by the Standard & Poor's unit of McGraw-Hill. An additional six products will be based on investment strategies and another 10 will be based on sectors.

The broker will allow accounts as small as $5,000 to use the basket product and will charge 75 to 125 basis points as a management fee depending on the size of the account.

What is not clear is how much demand there yet is among investors for this type of product, or if it is a solution in search of a problem.

The innovator in the market, Foliofn, has been cutting staff and refuses to release usage numbers for its product. Meanwhile, Netfolio has only signed up 6,000 clients since it took the wraps of its product last March, despite waving its $200 fee.  

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