State Street to enter UK ETF market in Q3

State Street Global Advisors is launching its inaugural UK range of ETFs within the next quarter, as part of plans to launch more than 50 index-tracking funds in the next two years.

Vin Bhattacharjee, head of the firm's EMEA intermediary business, said SSgA's expansion across Europe was "inevitable" as it has already established itself as one of the largest ETF providers in the US.

In an interview with ETFM, Investment Week's sister title, earlier in the year, Bhattacharjee said: "We are not going to blanket cover the market, but we will certainly aim to have a fund family of 50-plus ETFs over the next couple of years."

The firm will focus on core, traditional strategies, launching on broad equity and fixed income indices using passive, physically-replicated funds.

Bhattacharjee added State Street is one of the largest managers of emerging market assets, in an area that is increasingly being regarded as part of core allocations.

SSgA recently renamed its French-domiciled StreetTracks family of ETFs as SPDR funds, in line with its US offering and to leverage off the established brand.

The group also listed eight ETFs tracking fixed income, global and emerging equities on the Deutsche Boerse in May.

Bhattarcharjee said SSgA would have entered the European market earlier if the credit crisis had not hit in 2007.

He said: "I was in discussion with State Street back in 2007, but then the credit crunch hit and prevented any further expansion plans. One can look back and say that was a mistake, but the reality is management just did not have the bandwidth at the time."