BetaShares said it would release the new ETFs in the coming weeks as it aims to expand the range of portfolio solutions available to investors and their advisers.
The fund manager said the new funds, the BetaShares Global Shares ETF (BGBL) and BetaShares Global Shares Currency Hedged ETF (HGBL), will aim to track an index that provides exposure to about 1,500 global companies across more than 20 developed market countries (excluding Australia).
The funds will have management fees of 0.08 per cent p.a. for the Global Shares ETF and 0.11 per cent p.a. for the currency hedged equivalent.
The funds join what BetaShares referred to as a “growing selection of funds”, which includes the NASDAQ 100 ETF (NDQ), Global Sustainability Leaders ETF (ETHI), Global Quality Leaders ETF (QLTY), Australia 200 ETF (A200), Australian Composite Bond ETF (OZBD), and the High Interest Cash ETF (AAA).
BetaShares also added an Energy Transition Metals ETF (XMET) in October that provides exposure to leading global companies that are producing a range of energy transition metals (ETMs) including copper, nickel, cobalt, graphite, manganese, silver, and rare earth metals, as well as other companies involved in the discovery, development, and manufacture of these ETMs.
When it comes to portfolio construction, recent research from the 2022 BetaShares Investment Trends ETF Report found that 32 per cent of Australian investors are using ETFs as the core of their portfolio, which is up from 4 per cent in 2019.
BetaShares chief executive Alex Vynokur said: “Over the last decade, we’ve carefully built a diverse offering of innovative and complementary investment strategies to assist investors and their advisers to build better portfolios.
“The upcoming launch of our new Global Shares ETFs represent a thoughtful addition to our range of core exposures and demonstrates our commitment to maintaining our position as the home of ETFs in Australia.”
Mr Vynokur has been consistently bullish on ETFs, telling InvestorDaily that the robustness of the Australian ETF industry as “nothing short of remarkable” in September last year.
“But what we’ve seen, which has been really interesting, is that there have been very few, if any, redemptions basically from ETFs. In other words, investors who buy ETFs really invest for the long term and they’re exhibiting the behavioural characteristics of a long-term investor,” he said.
“That is in stark contrast with some of the significant redemptions we have seen in the traditional unlisted managed fund industry, which of course is majority dominated by active managers.”
The new BetaShares global funds will commence trading on the ASX in the coming weeks.
