The first tranche of international exchange-traded funds (ETF) dealt in Australia yesterday.
Investors traded around $1 million worth of the new Barclays Global Investors (BGI) iShares during their debut session on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
"The spreads have come in very quickly and indicate that investors have embraced the efficiency of the product," iShares Australia co-head Adam Secombe said.
"The spreads across the eight iShares are averaging out at 0.1 per cent of 1 per cent."
IShares are traded on the ASX in the same way as normal shares and provide exposure to a range of global indices.
BGI has offered eight ETFs to the institutional and retail Australian markets and intends to expand that to around 35 by the end of next year.
The company, which has 190 iShares listed globally, has also flagged the possibility of adding international sector-specific ETFs to the portfolio.
According to BGI, the ETF market is worth about $800 billion, with BGI holding market share of around 50 per cent.
