We think the iShares Government Inflation ETF (ASX: ILB) and SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF (ASX: SPY) ASX ETFs could be worthy of closer inspection. Here’s why…
1. The iShares ILB ETF (ASX:ILB) ETF
The iShares ILB ETF provides investors with exposure to the performance of a segment of the Australian bond market comprised of inflation-linked fixed income securities.
According to our most recent data, the ILB ETF had $252.91 million of money invested. With ILB’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 Fixed interest – Australia 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 ILB ETF is 0.18%. The issuer, iShares, collects this fee automatically.
Meaning, if you invested $2,000 in the ILB ETF for a full year you could expect to pay management fees of around $3.60. 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 ILB Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), available on the ETF issuer’s website, because it will detail the fees, tax implications and the latest information.
Want to hear more about the ILB ETF? View our free investment review.
2. The SPDR SPY ETF (ASX:SPY) ETF
The SPDR SPY ETF is the oldest ETF in the world and provides exposure to the 500 largest US-listed shares. These 500 shares represent approximately 80% of the total market capitalisation of the US stock market.
With our numbers for Dec 2020, SPY’s FUM stood at $54.94 million. Given it has less than $100 million invested, ask yourself (or your adviser) if the ETF is still too small (and if you should wait to buy into it). If you’re concerned the ETF might not be established enough, compare it alongside one of the other Index sector ETFs, using our full list of ETFs.
Are the fees for the SPY ETF bad?
SPDR, the ETF issuer, charges a yearly management fee of 0.0945% for the SPY ETF. Meaning, if you invested $2,000 for a full 12-month period you could expect to pay a base management fee of around $1.89.
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.
Want to know more? Get our team’s free SPY ETF review. Simply click here now.
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