SPDR funds (pronounced "spider"[1]) are a family ofexchange-traded funds (ETFs) traded in theUnited States,Europe,Mexico andAsia-Pacific and managed byState Street Global Advisors (SSGA). Informally, they are also known asSpyders orSpiders. SPDR is a trademark of Standard and Poor's Financial Services LLC,[2] a subsidiary ofS&P Global. The name is an acronym for the first member of the family, theStandard & Poor's Depositary Receipts, now theSPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF, which is designed to track theS&P 500 stock market index.
The SPDR S&P 500 Trust is the largest ETF in the world by total assets under management. SSGA also manage theSPDR Gold Shares, the largest commodity based ETF in the world.[3]
The funds are formulated asunit investment trusts. In 2007, SSGA rebranded its other United States ETFs as SPDRs, including the StreetTRACKS family and its other flagship ETF shares, the DOW DIAMONDS, that tracks theDow Jones Industrial Average. This move united all U.S. ETFs managed by SSGA, a total of 23 at that time, under a single brand.[4] At the end of 2006, the total portfolio that became known as SPDRs had $102 billion ofassets under management.[4]
As of Dec 2019, SPDR is the third largest ETF provider, behindiShares andVanguard, with assets of $714 bn.[5]
In 1998, SSGA andMerrill Lynch introduced theSector Spiders, which now consist of ten funds which follow the elevenGICS sectors of the S&P 500.[8][9]Because the S&P 500 contains only four telecommunications companies, those companies are a part of the information technology SPDR, and that one fund represents those two sectors.
SSGA also launched a number of index-based ETFs under the brandStreetTRACKS. These were renamed SPDRs in 2007.
SSGA also manages ETFs that are sold on exchanges outside the United States.
In Australia SSGA manages three SPDR branded ETFs. They are listed on theAustralian Securities Exchange and are the following:
