Four State Street Global Advisors Funds Receive “Highly Recommended” or “Recommended” Ratings by Lonsec

Australian investment research and ratings provider Lonsec has upgraded three State Street Global Advisors’ ETFs, one of which has received their top ‘Highly Recommended’ rating. These ETFs are SPDR^® S&P^®/ASX 200 Fund (STW), SPDR^® S&P^®/ASX 50 Fund (SFY), and SPDR^® S&P^®/ASX 200 Listed Property Fund (SLF). STW and SFY were the first ETFs launched in Australia by State Street Global Advisors in 2001. Lonsec also assigned State Street Gold Fund a “Recommended” rating.

As the creator of the world’s first ETFs^[1], State Street Global Advisors is committed to making investment opportunities more accessible with institutional- quality investments at a competitive price. State Street Global Advisors is the third largest global ETF provider^[2] with approximately US$1.5 trillion in total ETF assets globally^[3], with 17 ETFs available on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

The SPDR^® S&P^®/ASX 200 Fund (STW) was upgraded to a “Highly Recommended” rating by Lonsec, noted strong conviction in the fund’s cost-effective passive exposure to the broader Australian equity market. Lonsec also highlighted the fund’s significant scale at $4.88 billion and high liquidity, along with its long-term record of tracking its underlying index.

The SPDR^® S&P^®/ASX 50 Fund (SFY) was upgraded to a “Recommended” rating due to its competitive fee of 0.2% per annum. This ETF offers investors a cost-effective and liquid means to gain index exposure to the 50 largest stocks by market capitalisation on the ASX.

The SPDR^® S&P^®/ASX 200 Listed Property Fund (SLF) was upgraded to a “Recommended” rating, also due to its fee reduction from 0.4% to 0.16% per annum in July 2024, resulting in its annual fees and cost being the lowest in its peer group, offering an efficient means of passive exposure to listed Australian property securities.

Lonsec assigned a “Recommend” rating to State Street Gold Fund, which was launched in July 2024. Lonsec said that the Fund offers a cost-effective means of gaining exposure to gold prices without requiring investors to hold, trade, or store physical gold bullion. Another strength of the Fund is that its annual fees and cost is priced favourably against its peer group.

State Street Global Advisors Head of Intermediary Business for Australia Tim Bradbury says: “We are pleased to receive such recognition of our funds from Lonsec. Furthermore it is exciting to see increasing numbers of Australian financial advisers using low-cost ETFs as key building blocks in their client portfolios – in line with advisers in other markets around the globe.”

State Street Global Advisors Head of Investments for Australia Jonathan Shead says: “The recognition is a mark of confidence in the capability and track record of our local ETF team. Our Australian-based portfolio managers also leverage the expertise and knowledge of over 70 investment professionals across the globe, with an average of 21 years of experience.”

Investment in Australian exchange traded products (ETPs) surged in 2024 to reach $225 billion in Funds Under Management, representing a nearly 4-fold increase in market size over the last five years^[4].

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Footnotes:
[1] ETFs managed by State Street Global Advisors have the oldest inception dates within the US, Hong Kong, Australia, and Singapore. State Street Global Advisors launched the first ETF in the US on January 22, 1993; launched the first ETF in Hong Kong on November 11, 1999; launched the first ETF in Australia on August 24, 2001; and launched the first ETF in Singapore on April 11, 2002.
[2] Source: Source: Pensions & Investments Research Center, as of December 31, 2023. Updated annually.
[3] Source: Morningstar Direct as of 30 September 2024
[4] Source: ASX, as of October 31, 2024