The Betashares S&P/ASX Australian Technology ETF (ASX: ATEC) and iShares Treasury ETF (ASX: IGB) are Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) operating in the Australian shares and Fixed interest – Australia sectors, respectively.
How would an investor add ATEC to a portfolio?
The BetaShares ATEC ETF provides exposure to the top Australian technology companies that are listed on the ASX. This is a low-cost way to access the Australian technology sector through a single fund.
According to our most recent data, the ATEC ETF had $133.75 million of money invested. With ATEC’s total funds under management (FUM) figure over $100 million, the ETF meets our team’s minimum investment criteria for FUM levels. As a general rule, our team draws the line at $100 million for ETFs in the Australian shares sector because we believe that, relative to smaller ETFs, achieving this amount of FUM lowers the chance that the ETF issuer will close the ETF.
Fees to consider
According to our numbers, the annual management fee on the ATEC ETF is 0.48%. The issuer, Betashares, collects this fee automatically.
Meaning, if you invested $2,000 in the ATEC ETF for a full year you could expect to pay management fees of around $9.60. This fee is different from the fee you pay to your brokerage provider (e.g. CommSec, NabTrade, SelfWealth, etc.), which is the fee to buy or sell the ETF. In addition to a management fee charged by the issuer, be mindful to check the ‘spread‘ for the ETF.
A fee comparison
Fees aren’t the only key consideration for ETF investors, but it’s an easy thing to do. To understand if the ETF you’re looking at is too costly, compare it with other ETFs from the same sector, and against the industry average. For example, the average management fee (MER) across all of the ETFs covered by the Best ETFs Australia team was 0.5%, which is $10.00 per $2,000 invested. Keep in mind that small changes in the fees paid can make a big difference after 10 or 20 years. You should read the ATEC Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), available on the ETF issuer’s website, because it will detail the fees, tax implications and the latest information.
The ATEC ETF could be one to add to your watchlist. If you want to access our full ETF review, click here to get our full report – it’s totally free.
Getting to know the IGB ETF
The iShares IGB ETF provides investors with diversified access to Australian government bonds with a broad range of maturities. This is a relatively low-cost way to get exposure to Australian Treasury bonds in a single fund.
With our numbers for Oct 2020, IGB’s FUM stood at $107.86 million. Since the IGB’s FUM is over $100 million, our investing team would say the ETF has met our minimum criteria for the total amount invested, otherwise known as FUM. A very sustainable ETF in the Index sector should be able to scale well and become profitable for the ETF issuer.
Are the fees for the IGB ETF bad?
iShares, the ETF issuer, charges a yearly management fee of 0.18% for the IGB ETF. Meaning, if you invested $2,000 for a full 12-month period you could expect to pay a base management fee of around $3.60.
This management fee is below the average for all ETFs on our Best ETFs Australia list of ETFs. However, you might still be able to find a cheaper ETF for less.
Picking over ETFs seems too easy to be true: ‘just pick one and put it in your bottom-drawer’. However, it’s important to get it right the first time so that you won’t end up having to chop-and-change positions (and potentially pay extra tax). To make your life a little easier, if you’re looking at the IGB ETF, make sure you click here to access our analyst’s investment report. It’s free.
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