State Street Global Advisors, the investment management business of State Street Corporation, has announced that its French-domiciled exchange traded funds (ETFs) have been renamed to align with its global SPDR family of exchange-traded products.
SSgA’s ETFs, previously named streetTRACKS, are now registered and listed under the SPDR brand. The funds are currently registered in France, Germany, Luxembourg, the UK and the Netherlands, and SSgA intends to seek registration in other selected jurisdictions.
“We’re pleased to begin the process of bringing the streetTRACKS family of ETFs under the SPDR name to further unify State Street’s global ETF brand,” said Vin Bhattacharjee, head of SSgA’s EMEA Intermediary Business in London. “The SPDR brand has a strong heritage as the ETF industry’s pioneer and has also come to represent precision, innovation and quality offerings that provide benefits to investors. This effort is a first step as we look forward to expanding our SPDR ETF footprint in Europe. We anticipate seeking regulatory approval to cross-list these funds on stock exchanges in key European markets.”
The new name covers all 13 of SSgA’s French-domiciled ETFs, including European regional and industry sector funds. The ETFs currently trade on the NYSE Euronext.
In addition to renaming the funds, SSgA revamped other aspects of the ETFs, including lower total expense ratios and enhanced liquidity provisions. It also created a dedicated ETF support team in London and launched a new website, www.spdrseurope.com.
D.C.