In this short article, we’ll take a look at two top ETFs: Vaneck MSCI Australian Sustainable Equity ETF (ASX: GRNV) and SPDR S&P/ASX 200 ETF (ASX: STW).
What do the GRNV and STW ETFs do?
For a diversified portfolio of sustainable Australian companies, the VanEck GRNV ETF may be of interest. This ETF focuses on Australian companies that have high environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance, based on MSCI ESG Research. GRNV has been certified by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA), as part of the Responsible Investment Certification Program.
The SPDR STW ETF is Australia’s first ETF and has been operating for over 15 years. STW provides exposure to the largest 200 Australian shares, based on market capitalisation. This is a low-cost way to access top Australian companies through a single fund.
If you like the look of the GRNV ETF, check out our free GRNV ETF report.
One of the easy ways we compare ETFs such as STW and GRNV at Best ETFs and Rask Austalia is by analysing the fees and costs of an ETF. Internally, we score ETFs based on management fees, plus indirect costs and we take into account the buy-sell spread. We like to look at the ‘all-in’ costs of buying and owning an ETF.
We’ll keep it easy and just study the fees. Based on our data for December 2020, the GRNV ETF has a management expense ratio (MER) of 0.35% while the STW ETF’s yearly fee was 0.13%. Therefore, STW wins on this one. That said, a more useful metric to know is the fee quartiles that these ETFs find themselves in (note: quartile 1 is best). For example, any ETF which has a fee below 0.3% would be considered in our first (best) quartile.
How do they perform?
Performance matters. Keep in mind, performance isn’t everything — and past performance is not indicative of future performance. It’s just one part of a much bigger picture. The reason we say performance is not everything is because of volatility of financial markets and the economy from one year to the next. Some ETFs and funds can put in a solid return one year just to generate lacking returns the next time around. That’s why we prefer three-year or seven-year track records over one-year track records. It can smooth out the temporary performances caused by external factors. Both ETFs have achieved our three-year performance hurdle. As of December 2020, the GRNV ETF had an average annual return of 8.42%. During the same time, the STW ETF returned 8.00%.
Finally, at Best ETFs Australia, we apply a rating to the ETF issuer or provider. That is, the company that starts and is responsible for operating the ETF on the ASX. There are too many considerations that go into our scoring to detail here. The issuer of GRNV is Vaneck. VanEck ranks highly for our scores of ETF providers and issuers in Australia. Our team considers VanEck to be one of Australia’s leading providers of specialised ETFs and funds for retail investors and advisers.
Best ETFs Takeaway
Did you know we have free reports? View our ASX GRNV review and ASX STW review today.
For us, the STW ETF rates positively against our internal scoring methodology, but only just.
We hope this article helped you analyse ETFs. Don’t forget, there’s a lot more to investing well than what we just outlined (risks, diversification, other potentially better ETFs, etc.). Our analyst team at Rask Australia spends months looking at new ASX investments (it’s our day job!). To make your life easier, you can get the name of our team’s top ETF pick for 2021 in a free report. Keep reading to find out how to get our analyst’s report emailed to you right now…
