State Street Global Advisors' (SSgA) newly-launched SPDR MSCI Australia Select High Dividend Yield exchange-traded fund (ETF) has gained $37.5 million of funds under management in its first day of trading.
"We've seen a good day's trading [yesterday] and the first day's activity highlights retail demand from online brokers and full service brokers, and those brokers have generally been supporters of SPDR ETFs over the last 10 years," SSgA senior managing director in Australia Rob Goodlad said.
The product, the launch of which was announced last week, is designed for investors nearing retirement or seeking a high and reliable income stream from Australian equities.
"We have 34,000 investors in the existing Australian SPDR ETFs and we know that most are DIY and SMSF (self-managed superannuation fund) investors, so these products resonate well with that market," Goodlad said.
SSgA hoped the ETF would raise "well in excess" of $250 million over the medium term, he said.
SSgA launched the first Australian ETF in 2001 and has $2.9 billion in funds under management across its suite of local ETFs, which include the SPDR S&P/ASX 200, SPDR S&P/ASX 50 and SPDR S&P/ASX 200 Listed Property.
The SPDR MSCI Australia Select High Dividend Yield ETF tracks a basket of shares derived from a custom MSCI index, and aims to target companies that have a higher-than-average dividend yield with potential for capital growth.
The ETF is available on platforms including BT Wrap, Macquarie Wrap, Macquarie Prime, netwealth, CommSec, Investor First, Novis Capital, Bell Direct and Etrade.
Morningstar co-head of fund research Tim Murphy said high-yield equities strategies are becoming increasingly popular with investors.
"This is the second such ETF to launch in Australia in the last few months after the Russell High Dividend Australian Shares ETF and we would not be surprised to see more such ETFs hit the market soon," he said.
ETFs trade exactly like stocks and are generally designed to track the performance of an index.
