Betashares is an Australian provider of
exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other
ASX-traded funds. The company introduced a range of products into the Australian ETF landscape, including Australia's first currency hedged ETF, Australia's first range of commodity ETFs, Australia's first range of currency ETFs, Australia's first ETF using
fundamentally based indexes Fundamentally based indexes or fundamental indexes, also called fundamentally-weighted indexes, are indexes in which stocks are weighted according to factors related to their fundamentals such as earnings, dividends and assets, commonly used when p ...
and a range of
short exchange traded products. BetaShares is based in Sydney, Australia with offices in Melbourne and Brisbane.
Betashares is owned and managed by its Australian based management team and has a strategic shareholding from
TA Associates
TA Associates, founded in 1968, is one of the early modern-era private equity firms in the United States. The firm leads buyouts and minority recapitalizations of profitable growth companies. TA invests across five industry groups: technology, he ...
, a US
Private Equity
In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a typ ...
firm. Up until March 8th, 2021, Betashares was partly owned by
Mirae Asset Financial Group
Mirae Asset Financial Group ( ko, 미래에셋금융그룹) is a financial services group headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Mirae Asset provides comprehensive financial services including asset management, wealth management, investment banking ...
.
History
Currently, Betashares offers
exchange-traded funds across several asset classes, including equities, cash, fixed income,
hybrids, currencies and commodities.
The organisation is actively involved in researching and commenting on ETF investing for Australian investors as well as forecasting the future growth of the industry in Australia.
Some of Betashares' milestones include:
* Announced the launch of Australia's first currency ETF covering the US Dollar () and several months later the British Pound () and Euro ().
* Announced the launch of Australia's first currency hedged ETF, the Betashares Gold Bullion ETF ().
* Announced the launch of Australia's first range of commodity ETFs, including Australia's first crude oil ETF ().
* Announced the launch of Australia's first Cash ETF, the Betashares Australian High Interest Cash ETF (), and subsequently launched the first ETF in Australia to offer exposure to a portfolio of Australian Bank senior
floating rate bonds (). In May 2018, they also launched a
Corporate Bond
A corporate bond is a bond issued by a corporation in order to raise financing for a variety of reasons such as to ongoing operations, M&A, or to expand business. The term is usually applied to longer-term debt instruments, with maturity o ...
ETF () and in July 2019, an Australian
Government bond
A government bond or sovereign bond is a form of bond issued by a government to support public spending. It generally includes a commitment to pay periodic interest, called coupon payments'','' and to repay the face value on the maturity ...
ETF ()
* Announced the launch of Betashares Europe ETF (Currency hedged) () and Betashares Japan ETF (Currency Hedged) ().
* Announced the launch of Australia's first ETF products using
leverage and
shorting
In finance, being short in an asset means investing in such a way that the investor will profit if the value of the asset falls. This is the opposite of a more conventional "long" position, where the investor will profit if the value of the a ...
over a range of asset classes, including Australian and global shares, as well as currencies offering exposure to both bullish and bearish investment strategies.
* Announced the launch of Australia's first ETF to track the
NASDAQ-100
The Nasdaq-100 (^NDX) is a stock market index made up of 101 equity securities issued by 100 of the largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. It is a modified capitalization-weighted index. The stocks' weights in the i ...
Index () and the first ETF in Australia providing dedicated exposure to the global
cybersecurity
Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, th ...
sector ().
* Announced the launch of two
ethical
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of morality, right and wrong action (philosophy), behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, alo ...
ETFs using climate leadership and
ESG screening criteria, the Betashares Global Sustainability Leaders ETF () Betashares Australian Sustainability Leaders ETF ().
* Announced the launch of the world's lowest cost Australian equities ETF ().
* Announced the launch of two new technology funds, the Global Robotics and Artificial Intelligence ETF () and the Asia Technology Tigers ETF ().
* Announced the launch of two new global funds, the Global Quality Leaders ETF () and the Global Income Leaders ETF ().
* Announced the launch of Australia's first ETF to track the
FTSE-100 Index ().
* Announced the launch of three low-cost ethical diversified portfolio ETFs (, and ) and one low-cost all equity diversified portfolio ETF ().
* Announced the launch of Australia's first ETF to track the new S&P/ASX All Technology Index ().
* Announced the launch of Australia's first ETF in the
cloud computing
Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage ( cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over m ...
space which tracks the Indxx Global Cloud Computing Index ().
Partnerships
Betashares has formed a number of partnerships:
* In July 2013, Betashares launched the Betashares FTSE RAFI Australia 200 ETF (), based on a
fundamentally based index developed by
Research Affiliates, a globally renowned product development and research firm. The Research Affiliates Fundamental Index® (RAFI) approach uses 4 fundamental factors to develop index weightings including sales, cash flow, dividends and book value.
* In November 2017, Betashares and Coolabah Capital Investments (CCI) released Australia's first Active ETF investing in a managed, diversified portfolio of
hybrid securities. The portfolio manager for the Betashares Active Australian Hybrids Fund (managed fund) () is Christopher Joye.
* In December 2017, Betashares and global asset manager
Legg Mason
Legg Mason was an American investment management and asset management firm headquartered in Baltimore, founded in 1899 and acquired by Franklin Templeton Investments as of July 2020. As of December 31, 2019, the company had $730.8 billion in as ...
, one of the world's largest active investment management firms, entered a strategic partnership to launch the Betashares Legg Mason Equity Income Fund (managed fund) () and Betashares Legg Mason Real Income Fund (managed fund) (). In November 2018, they launched Australia's first Active Fixed Income ETF, the Betashares Legg Mason Australian Bond Fund (). In June 2019, they launched their fourth active fund, the Betashares Legg Mason Emerging Markets Fund ().
[Thompson, Sarah]
Legg Mason prepares new ASX-listed emerging markets fund
''Australian Financial Review'', 11 June 2019
See also
*
List of Australian exchange-traded funds
*
Exchange-traded fund
*
Gold exchange-traded fund
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Betashares
Australian companies established in 2009
Financial services companies of Australia
Financial services companies established in 2009
Companies based in Sydney
Exchange-traded funds
2011 mergers and acquisitions