Global ETFs added to your toolkit

Global ETF assets hit a record US$24 trillion at the end of August, up 21% since the start of the year. In this eight-month period alone, investors have invested a record US$1.96 trillion into ETFs globally.¹

Against this backdrop, and in response to growing demand from advisors for a low-cost, liquid portfolio building block, Ninety One has added a range of 14 global exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to the investment platform. You can now use them alongside our existing unit trusts, model portfolios and share portfolios when constructing client portfolios.

It’s the latest step in how we build the platform: designed for advisors, and developed in collaboration with you. Our focus is on bringing efficiency to your practice and supporting better financial planning outcomes. Recent enhancements such as global trusts and instruction tracking follow the same path.

Most ETFs are passive, meaning they simply track an index, sector or asset rather than relying on portfolio managers’ security selection, and trade on an exchange. They therefore typically carry lower ongoing charges than actively managed funds, while still delivering many core benefits your clients value: diversification across many underlying holdings in a single trade, and full daily transparency of what’s held. Like traditional collective investment schemes, trading inside the fund doesn’t trigger capital gains.

The range

Our initial focused offering reflects what advisors have told us they need most. All 14 funds are iShares UCITS ETFs, chosen for coverage across key asset classes, regions and styles, from a provider with tight index tracking, competitive costs and robust operations. They include:

For full details on the currency, benchmark and share class for each fund, please view the global fund list.

Since launch in October, we’ve seen significant interest, with the most popular ETFs on the platform to date being the S&P 500, Euro Stoxx 50, FTSE 100 and NASDAQ 100.²

Where clients can hold them, and how they behave on the platform

Global ETFs are available in Ninety One’s offshore voluntary products: the Global Investment Portfolio, International Investment Portfolio and Global Life Portfolio.

On the platform, an ETF behaves like any other fund. It slots into a client’s existing deal, so there’s no need to open anything separately, and it can be held inside a model portfolio like any other mutual fund.

Although ETFs trade on an exchange all day, instructions submitted before the cut-off are traded at the market-on-close price on the dealing date, similar to any other fund. Settlement follows the standard cycle of the exchange where the fund is listed. Intraday valuations are indicative only, because the official closing price has to be confirmed.

What it costs

Three components make up the cost of holding a global ETF through Ninety One: an annual administration fee, a trading fee on each trade, and a settlement fee per trade.

• The administration fee follows the same sliding scale already used for offshore share portfolios (0.55% up to US$200 000, 0.30% on the next US$800 000, 0.15% thereafter). Importantly, the applicable tier is based on the aggregate value of all the client’s Ninety One global products, not the ETF holding in isolation, so the rate charged on ETF holdings depends on the client’s total offshore relationship with us.
• On top of this, a trading fee of up to 7.5 basis points applies per trade, and a flat settlement fee of €8.50 is charged by AllFunds per trade. None of these three fees attract VAT. Where a trade requires a currency conversion, foreign exchange charges will also apply.
• Additionally, each ETF carries its own ongoing charges figure, set by the ETF provider and already reflected in the fund’s published performance, exactly as it would be for an ETF held anywhere else.

One operational point worth flagging: an ETF can’t be selected as a nominated fee fund. At least 2% of every deal needs to sit in a daily dealing fund, from which ongoing fees are drawn; if that balance becomes insufficient, it’s topped up proportionally from the client’s other underlying instruments, which may include selling units in the ETF.

Global ETFs are about choice. Advisors get another option on the same platform, using the same instruction forms you already know. Making your life easier is what the platform aims for, and this is another step in that direction.

¹ ETFGI, September 2026.
² iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF (USD), iShares Core Euro Stoxx 50 UCITS ETF (GBP), iShares Core FTSE 100 UCITS ETF (GBP) and iShares NASDAQ 100 UCITS ETF (USD).