SPDR funds (pronounced "spider"[1]) are a family of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) traded in the United States, Europe, Mexico and Asia-Pacific and managed by State Street Global Advisors (SSGA). Informally, they are also known as Spyders or Spiders. SPDR is a trademark of Standard and Poor's Financial Services LLC,[2] a subsidiary of S&P Global. The name is an acronym for the first member of the family, the Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts, now the SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF, which is designed to track the S&P 500 stock market index.
For a long time,[clarification needed] the SPDR S&P 500 was the largest ETF in the world. SSGA also manage the SPDR Gold Shares, which for a while[clarification needed] was the second-largest ETF in the world.[3] As of August 2012, they were the first and second largest exchange-traded products in the world.[4]
The funds are formulated as unit 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 the Dow Jones Industrial Average. This move united all U.S. ETFs managed by SSGA, a total of 23 at that time, under a single brand.[5] At the end of 2006, the total portfolio that became known as SPDRs had $102 billion of assets under management.[5]
As of Dec 2019, SPDR is the third largest ETF provider, behind iShares and Vanguard, with assets of $714 bn.[6]