Dear Investor,

You may have heard of Exchange Traded Funds or ETFs - these are products that are listed on the ASX and are bought and sold just like an ordinary share. The difference is that an ETF holds a basket of stocks designed to track the performance of an equity index such as the S&P or the ASX 200.

If you're new to share trading, or need help choosing stocks, ETFs are a great way to invest in a variety of industries and companies, without having to research each stock individually.

Key benefits of ETFs include:

  • Low cost option to gain exposure to the whole share market in one transaction
  • Portfolio diversification
  • Listed on the ASX

directshares has recently launched our ETFs Centre. Visit our website to find out more about ETFs and how you could use them for your investment strategies.

We use two providers of ETFs in the Australian market, State Street Global Advisor's SPDRs and Barclays Global Investors' iShares.

SPDRs are investment products that hold a pool of securities, with the aim of replicating a specific index such as the S&P/ASX 50 and S&P/ASX 200. They are designed to be attractive to investors through providing cost-efficient exposure to all shares in an index of the Australian share market.

If you have been thinking about investing internationally, you may be interested in iShares ETFs. Each iShares ETF closely tracks an established international market index. iShares provide investors with a simple, transparent and cost-effective way to obtain international equity exposure and portfolio diversification. All with a single trade on the ASX.

Find out why ETFs have become one of the world's fastest growing investment products. For more information visit directshares.com.au or call 1300 133 500, 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday.

Yours sincerely,

David Curry
General Manager, directshares
St.George Bank Limited
The above information relating to State Street SPDRs and Barclays Global Investors' iShares has been prepared independently of directshares, and directshares makes no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of its content. This information has been prepared without taking account of your objectives, financial situation or needs. directshares accepts no liability for any loss caused by use of any of the information included in this document. Each investor will need to consider their own investment objectives, financial situation and particular needs before acting upon any of the information provided herein.

Barclays Global Investors Australia Limited ABN 33 001 804 566, AFSL 225 398 ("BGIA") is the local agent and intermediary for iShares (iShares, Inc. ARBN 125 632 279, iShares Trust ARBN 125 632 411). Barclays Global Fund Advisors ("BGFA") serves as an adviser to the iShares funds that are registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Company Act of 1940. BGFA is a subsidiary of Barclays Global Investors, N.A. ("BGINA"). BGIA and BGINA are majority-owned subsidiaries of Barclays Bank PLC. The information in this document relates to iShares funds quoted on the Australian Securities Exchange ("ASX"). Trades on ASX in the shares of an iShares fund are settled using CHESS Depository Interests ("CDI"s). International investments such as an iShares fund may have different risk characteristics compared to investments in other securities listed on ASX that do not have international exposure. The performance of an iShares fund is not guaranteed by ASX, any foreign or Australian regulatory or depository institution, or any Barclays entity. (C) 2008 Barclays Global Investors. All rights reserved. iShares (R) is a registered trademark of Barclays Global Investors, N.A.

This email does not constitute an offer of securities to US investors.

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The directshares service is provided by ETRADE Australia Securities Limited ("E*TRADE Australia") ABN 93 078 174 973 AFSL No. 238277, a Participant of the ASX Limited Group, at the request of St.George Bank Limited ("St.George") (ABN 92 055 513 070). Execution, settlement and clearing is through E*TRADE Australia. Neither St.George nor E*TRADE Australia are representatives of the other. Investment advice is not provided to online directshares clients.