Source, the London-based provider of exchange-

traded products for European investors, has launched its new S&P 500 Exchange Traded Fund, which tracks the S&P 500 total return (net) index and has 0.20 per cent management fee.

This new addition to Source’s US exposure ETF range gives investors access to the US equities market through important benchmarks, the firm said in a statement.

The S&P 500 index is comprised of 500 companies with a market capitalisation greater than $3.5 billion and listed on the NYSE or one of the NASDAQ exchanges. This benchmark is used to gain exposure to the performance of the large cap US equities market.

Currently, there is over $100 billion invested in S&P 500 ETFs globally, most of it concentrated in US-listed products.

The US-listed SPDR S&P 500 and iShares S&P 500 ETFs collectively account for $98 billion, which represents 13 per cent of the total US ETF market.

Due to restrictions on the holding or trading of US-listed funds, many European investors have until recently been limited to a single European-domiciled ETF providing exposure to the S&P 500 index.

The new S&P 500 Source ETF is UCITs III-compliant and is domiciled in Ireland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and trades in US dollars.

 “The S&P 500 index is an important benchmark and a good complement to our growing suite of US exposure which includes the S&P US Select Sectors, MSCI USA and the Russell 2000,” said Ted Hood, the firm’s chief executive.