The firm said its decision to launch a “pure” growth smart beta exchange-traded fund (ETF) was driven by investor demand for more precise exposure to companies with accelerating revenues and earnings, as traditional benchmarks failed to capture them.
Speaking to InvestorDaily, CEO and managing director of VanEck Asia-Pacific, Arian Neiron, said the launch comes after a lengthy development period and is designed to address market gaps.
“This is something we have been working on for some time,” Neiron said.
“We know traditional growth benchmarks have missed the stocks poised for rapid acceleration, leading to underperformance,” he added. “As Australia’s smart beta pioneer and leader, we wanted to offer a bespoke strategy with true-to-label growth exposure to complement our quality- and value-factor ETFs.”
In terms of how the VanEck MSCI International Growth ETF (ASX: GWTH) fits into broader factor-investing trends, Neiron said it has been designed to provide an Australian-first solution.
“After considerable research and testing in this space, we developed what we believe to be the first ETF of its kind in Australia.”
He further told InvestorDaily that the fund has been created to reflect the current global environment.
“In a global environment of low growth and higher inflation, we view an international growth smart beta strategy as a necessary addition to an investors’ dedicated factor/style sleeve, focusing on companies growing revenue and earnings. GWTH is pioneered and engineered by VanEck in collaboration with MSCI.”
GWTH is set to begin trading on the ASX on 28 August, pending regulatory approval. The product extends the firm’s long-held focus on innovative smart beta strategies in Australia.
With the launch of GWTH, VanEck’s total number of ASX-listed ETFs is 46.
According to VanEck, the ETF will provide investors with access to a portfolio of top international companies selected based on five growth descriptors (measured by MSCI) and will combine lower fees with smart beta strategies that follow a systematic, rules-based methodology designed to deliver outperformance.
Neiron commented at the time of the ETF’s announcement (Monday, 18 August 2025) that the new product “will allow investors to add a dedicated growth exposure to their portfolio, for passive fees”.
“Importantly, the growth factor is a diversifier away from the overheld companies, with Nvidia being the only ‘Magnificent Seven’ company currently included in the portfolio. Minimal overlap between GWTH, the international benchmark, and factor ETFs provides further diversification benefits,” Neiron added.
