ETF brand names

Exchange-traded fund (ETF) sponsors have historically marketed ETFs under proprietary acronyms or brand names, though lately some have dropped these in favor of simpler 'ETF' branding. Some of the most widely known:

  • SPDRs. The first ETF family, launched in 1993, from State Street Global Advisors. Originally based on Standard and Poor's indexes (SPDR stands for Standard and Poor's Depository Receipts).
  • iShares. The largest ETF family, from Barclays Global Investors.
  • HOLDRs. A family of ETFs managed by Merrill Lynch. As an early ETF incarnation, HOLDRs have some significant structural differences from most ETFs (more).
  • BLDRs. A family of ETFs with NASDAQ Global Funds Inc. as the sponsor and Bank of New York as the Trustee.
  • StreetTRACKS. ETFs from State Street Global Advisors - this brand is currently being phased out in favor of the other SSGA brand, SPDRs.
  • ProShares. A family of ETFs from ProFunds Group.
  • PowerShares. A family of ETFs from PowerShares Capital Management.