1. Exposure
The SPDR STW ETF is Australia’s first ETF and has been operating for over 15 years. STW provides exposure to the largest 200 Australian shares, based on market capitalisation. This is a low-cost way to access top Australian companies through a single fund.
The SPDR STW ETF could be used by investors to get exposure to a broad basket of Australia’s largest public companies. These Australian companies are likely to grow their profits over time and have a track record of paying regular tax-effective dividends for their shareholders.
2. Funds under management (FUM)
The SPDR STW ETF had $4545.57 million of money invested when we last pulled the monthly numbers. Given STW’s total funds under management (FUM) figure is over $100 million, the ETF has met our minimum criteria for the total amount of money invested, otherwise known as FUM. We draw the line at $100 million for ETFs in the Australian shares sector because we believe that relative to smaller ETFs, achieving this amount of FUM de-risks the ETF.
3. Management fees & costs matter
SPDR charges investors a yearly management fee of 0.13% for the STW ETF. This means that if you invested $2,000 in STW for a full year, you could expect to pay management fees of around $2.60.
For context, the average management fee (MER) of all ETFs covered by Best ETFs Australia on our complete list of ASX ETFs is 0.51% or around $10.20 per $2,000 invested. Keep in mind, small changes in fees can make a big difference after 10 or 20 years.
What now?
These are just some of the considerations or factors you would need to consider when weighing up the STW ETF. If you’re looking to do some further digging, be sure to read our SPDR STW report – it’s free. While you’re at it, don’t forget to search our complete list of ASX ETFs. You can filter the results according to sector, issuer, size, and more.