State Street takes its SPDR ETFs into UK market

State Street has made the next step on its expansion into Europe with a UK listing.

State Street Global Advisers has listed its first set of SPDR branded exchange traded funds (ETFs) on the London Stock Exchange as the UK market ‘comes of age'.

The 11 new ETFs provide exposure to developed and emerging equities and bonds. These include two firsts: the SPDR Barclays Capital US Aggregate Bond ETF is a first for the European market and the SPDR Barclays Capital Sterling Aggregate Bond ETF is the first ETF globally to track the index, according to the provider.

Eleanor Hope-Bell head of intermediaries Northern Europe at State Street in London is confident the company can differentiate itself in a market where there are already several established players.

"If you look on the LSE there isn't that much choice in terms of the top 10 ETFs in terms of assets and flows. There aren't that many providers globally that can challenge that. I am confident given SPDR ETFs pioneering nature and what we have proven in Asia and the US, we can offer clients that choice in the UK.

"There are lots of providers in the UK market but there aren't long-standing ETFs providers, which have a lot of expertise in the ETF market. That is what we do have."

She adds that SPDR will be offering core products to its clients but without venturing into the trap of launching ‘me too' products.

Hope-Bell says that it is an exciting time for the industry in Europe and the UK: "The reality is the industry is still so nascent and so new. I have been in it almost since day one in Europe but its only now (and you can see that from all the press coverage on it now and the regulatory look through) that the ETF industry in the UK is coming of age."

This will be boosted by the impending Retail Distribution Review (due to be implemented in 2013) which aims at stamping out fees in the independent advisory market. "The ETF industry has pushed the core qualities - transparency, fees on products, tradability and liquidity. The core tenets of an ETF fit well into the future of investing."

Listing in the UK was the next step on State Street's expansion into Europe, which began earlier this year. The ETF provider already has listings in Paris, Germany, Italy and Switzerland and had a total of €1 billion in assets under management in Europe at the end of June.

Its focus now will be on consistently introducing 20-30 new ETFs into the market every year over the next few years, says Hope-Bell.