Charles Schwab unveiled a new no-commission, no-transaction-fee ETF platform called Schwab ETF OneSource that is likely to reshape the ETF marketplace.

The program, which includes 105 ETFs and is open to registered investment advisors (RIAs) and all investors, is modeled along the same lines as the firm's mutual fund OneSource platform that debuted in 1994.

The program may well rock the ETF world. When Schwab launched its OneSource mutual fund platform nearly 20 years ago, only 80 funds initially participated. Other discount brokerages were quickly forced to follow suit and introduce their own similar platforms. Today, there are about 4,600 funds in Schwab's OneSource program.

ETF providers participating in the new program include State Street Global Advisors, Guggenheim Investments, PowerShares, ETF Securities, United States Commodity Funds and Charles Schwab Investment Management. Notably absent from the program are the two largest ETF providers, Vanguard Group and BlackRock iShares.

Nonetheless, Schwab officials expect other ETF providers to join the platform. Executives at Schwab and the participating providers acknowledge that the program will force all parties to assume certain additional costs. However, they declined to spell out who would bear how much.

The move is likely to intensify margin compression in the ETF space, which grew 26 percent in 2012. John Hyland, chief investment officer of the United States Commodity Funds, predicted 2013 could be the first year that more ETFs were closed than opened in a business where low margins and product proliferation are already taking their toll.

Other ETF executives are not so sure. But they say ETF closures are likely to be concentrated among latecomers to the game and equity ETFs that have failed to reach critical mass. Since fixed-income ETFs have only been available for five years, executives think that providers would be more willing to give products a little more time in that asset class.

Peter Crawford, a senior vice president at Schwab, said the program would allow RIAs to optimize asset allocation models and do block rebalancing more efficiently. It would also allow small investors to rebalance in a cost-effective way. ETFs participating in the program will not charge redemption fees to penalize day traders.