Betashares has launched two exchange-traded funds (ETF) providing investors greater access to global equities and overseas opportunities in the infrastructure sector.
The Betashares Global Shares Ex US ETF, trading under the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) ticker EXUS, will allow investors the ability to better diversify their portfolio weighting to overseas markets as it excludes United States stocks, which currently make up about 70 per cent of developed market indices.
To this end, it provides individuals access to over 900 large and mid-cap companies across 22 developed markets outside the US and Australia.
“At a time when equity market concentration is elevated in both US and Australian equities, EXUS will help investors address this overweight position in their portfolios, as well as offering the tax efficiency of investing in an Australian-domiciled ETF which holds shares directly,” Betashares chief executive Alex Vynokur noted.
Released simultaneously, the Betashares FTSE Global Infrastructure Shares Currency Hedged ETF, trading under ASX ticker TOLL, invests in a portfolio of global utilities, transportation, energy pipeline and telecommunication companies with an Australian dollar hedge.
“TOLL provides exposure to global infrastructure companies delivering essential services that tend to remain in demand throughout the economic cycle. These businesses often possess pricing power and inflation-linked revenues, making them a valuable portfolio building block and an additional source of diversification,” Vynokur explained.
The two new funds are part of the Betashares strategy to provide investors and their financial advisers with the tools to build globally diversified and resilient portfolios. The manager also recently launched the Betashares MSCI Emerging Markets Complex ETF and Betashares Global Aggregate Bond Currency Hedged ETF to serve this purpose.
“Equity markets have become increasingly concentrated in recent years. These new ETFs give Australian investors more tools to broaden their portfolios and add resilience through exposure to assets that perform differently across market cycles,” Vynokur said.
Both the Betashares Global Shares Ex US ETF and the Betashares FTSE Global Infrastructure Shares Currency Hedged ETF have management fees of 0.14 per cent a year.
