State Street opens ETF range to UK market

SPDR ETFs, the exchange traded funds (ETF) platform of State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), has listed a range of physically-backed equity and fixed income ETFs on the London Stock Exchange.

The new products now available to UK investors focus on equity and debt in emerging markets, global equity products, and US and sterling bond funds.

The group said it is offering the first European equity ETFs tracking MSCI All Country World index and the MSCI ACWI Investable Market index, as well as the first European fixed income ETF to offer investors access to local currency EMD.

The SPDR Barclays Capital US Aggregate Bond ETF is a European market first and the SPDR Barclays Capital Sterling Aggregate Bond ETF is the first ETF globally to provide access to the investment-grade sterling-denominated bond market by tracking the Barclays Capital Sterling Aggregate index, the group added.

Vin Bhattacharjee, head of the intermediary business for Europe Middle East and Africa at SsgA, said: “UK investors have been early adopters of ETFs and appreciate the products as simple and effective tools which aim to achieve low cost and transparent portfolio diversification.

"Even though the trend towards increased ETF usage in the UK is evidenced in all client segments, the forthcoming retail distribution review will bring about changes in the distribution landscape which will increase the interest in this product set amongst retail investors because of the uniform pricing structure of most ETFs in the UK.”