ES3 and G3B both track the same 30 stocks on the Straits Times Index. The real difference between them is not performance; it is cost, size, and one structural feature most investors miss.
SPDR's ES3 is Singapore's oldest and largest ETF at roughly S$4.04 billion in assets, charging a 0.28% expense ratio and paying cash out twice a year.
Amova's G3B, formerly run under the Nikko AM name, is smaller at around S$1.69 billion and charges a lower expense ratio capped at 0.25%. Since September 2025, it has offered something ES3 still does not: a unit class that reinvests your payouts automatically instead of sending you cash.
This guide walks through what each fund actually holds, how the fee gap plays out over time, and where each one has a genuine edge. Y
ou can match the ETF to how you actually invest rather than to which one happens to be more talked about.
What Are ES3 and G3B?
Photo: Jo@net via Flickr. Singapore's financial district, home to the banks that dominate the STI.
Both ES3 and G3B are exchange-traded funds that track the Straits Times Index (STI).
Both use full replication, meaning each fund actually holds all 30 underlying stocks in roughly index-matching weights, rather than a sample or synthetic substitute.
| ES3 | G3B |
|---|---|---|
Full name | SPDR Straits Times Index ETF | Amova Singapore STI ETF (formerly Nikko AM Singapore STI ETF) |
Fund manager | State Street Global Advisors | Amova Asset Management (formerly Nikko Asset Management) |
Listed on SGX | 17 Apr 2002 | 24 Feb 2009 (Dist), 17 Sep 2025 (Acc) |
Index tracked | Straits Times Index, 30 stocks | Straits Times Index, 30 stocks |
Replication method | Full replication | Full replication |
Unit classes | Distribution only | Distribution and Accumulation |
One row is worth pausing on.
ES3 has a seven-year head start and only ever offered cash payouts. G3B caught up on cost over the years and, more recently, added a second unit class that ES3 still does not have.
What Does the STI Actually Hold?
Both ETFs are only as diversified as the index they copy, and the STI is not very diversified.
DBS, OCBC and UOB alone make up roughly 57% of the index between them, and the top five names, the three banks plus Singtel and SGX, account for close to two-thirds of the entire fund.
In plain terms, if you buy ES3 or G3B, you are mostly buying Singapore's banks with a side of telecom and the stock exchange operator itself.
There is nothing wrong with that concentration; Singapore's banks are well capitalised and closely supervised by MAS, but I would not call either ETF a broad market fund the way a total market fund overseas might be.
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How Do Distributions Work, and What Changed in 2025?
Distribution units pay out cash. Accumulation units reinvest it automatically inside the fund.
Historically, ES3 and G3B worked the same way. Each fund collects dividends from the 30 underlying stocks, deducts fees, and pays out what is left twice a year.
If you wanted to reinvest that cash yourself, you had to buy more units with the payout, pay a brokerage fee again, and repeat every six months.
That changed for G3B in September 2025, when Amova listed a second unit class alongside the original Dist units: an Accumulation (Acc) class that keeps the dividends inside the fund and reinvests them automatically.
No manual top-up, no extra brokerage fee, no cash sitting idle while you decide what to do with it.
ES3 has not followed with an equivalent class, so at the time of writing, G3B is the only STI tracker on SGX offering automatic reinvestment. Income seekers who want the cash payout still have that Dist option on G3B too; this is an added choice rather than a replacement.
What Does Each ETF Actually Cost You?
Fees are the one number you can know for certain before you buy, since nobody can predict future returns but everybody can read a factsheet.
ES3 charges a total expense ratio of 0.28% a year, based on its financial year ended 30 June 2025. G3B charges less, with a total expense ratio of around 0.24% to 0.25% a year, capped by Amova at 0.25%.
On a S$10,000 holding, that works out to roughly S$28 a year for ES3 versus S$24 to S$25 a year for G3B, a gap of about S$3 to S$4 annually.
In any single year, that is trivial. Compounded over 20 or 30 years on a growing balance, a steady 0.03 to 0.04 percentage point gap adds a real, if modest, drag on top of whatever tracking difference each fund adds through trading costs and cash handling.
Cheaper is not automatically better if it comes with less liquidity, and that is the actual trade-off worth weighing here.
ES3 vs G3B: Side by Side
Same index underneath, different cost, size and structure on top.
Both funds track the identical 30 stocks. Here is where they actually differ.
Feature | ES3 (SPDR) | G3B (Amova) |
|---|---|---|
Fund manager | State Street Global Advisors | Amova Asset Management (formerly Nikko AM) |
Fund size (AUM) | ~S$4.04 billion (11 Sep 2026) | ~S$1.69 billion (31 Jul 2026) |
Total expense ratio | 0.28% p.a. | ~0.24% to 0.25% p.a. (capped) |
Distribution yield | 3.08% (trailing 12 months) | Historically around 3% to 4%, not guaranteed |
Unit classes | Distribution only | Distribution and Accumulation |
Distribution frequency | Semi-annual | Semi-annual, at the manager's discretion |
Listed since | 2002 | 2009 (2025 for Acc units) |
Liquidity | Singapore's largest and most heavily traded STI ETF | Smaller, thinner daily trading than ES3 |
Indicative unit price* | ~S$3.30 | ~S$5.95 |
Indicative cost of one board lot (100 units)* | ~S$330 | ~S$595 |
*Prices move daily and will differ by the time you read this. SGX's odd lot market also lets you buy smaller quantities than a full board lot.
The bolded row is the one I would weigh most heavily. ES3's much larger asset base and longer trading history generally mean tighter bid-ask spreads and easier execution for large orders, an advantage that never shows up on a factsheet but shows up in your actual fill price. G3B trades that liquidity edge for a lower fee and the accumulating option. Same 30 stocks underneath, genuinely different trade-offs on top.
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Which One Should You Actually Consider?
I would not overthink this one, since both funds hold the same underlying stocks and move together day to day. Where I would actually spend time deciding: if you are investing a lump sum and value the tightest possible spread, ES3's size and trading history make it the more established choice.
If you are drip feeding a regular monthly amount and want your dividends compounding without lifting a finger, G3B's new Acc class does something ES3 currently cannot.
Market consensus, from what I have seen across local broker commentary, tends to favour ES3 for pure liquidity and G3B for cost-conscious long-term holders, though neither view accounts for your own broker's fees, which can matter more than either ETF's expense ratio depending on where you trade.
Personally, I think the more interesting question is not ES3 versus G3B but Dist versus Acc within G3B itself. That decision, cash now or compounding later, says more about your own investing stage than the half a percentage point separating either fund's fee.
What Are the Risks of Buying Either ETF?
Both ETFs share the same underlying risk, because they hold the same 30 stocks. None of the following is unique to ES3 or G3B individually.
Concentration risk. Close to two-thirds of the fund sits in five names, three of them banks. A shock to Singapore's banking sector hits both ETFs at once.
No control over the constituents. If SGX removes or replaces a component company, both funds simply follow. You cannot opt out of a name you dislike while staying in the ETF.
Distributions are not guaranteed. Amova states this explicitly for G3B, and the same logic applies to ES3. A weak year for underlying dividends flows straight through to a smaller payout.
Rate sensitivity. Banks make up most of the index, and bank earnings are sensitive to interest rate moves, which can swing the whole index even when the underlying businesses stay healthy.
Liquidity risk on G3B specifically. Thinner daily trading can mean a wider bid-ask spread if you need to sell a large position quickly.
What I would watch going forward: whether ES3 answers G3B's Acc class with one of its own, and whether the fee gap between the two funds narrows or widens at their next reported financial year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I buy ES3 or G3B with my CPF Ordinary Account?
Yes, both ES3 and G3B are typically on the CPFIS included investment list for CPF Ordinary Account funds, though the exact list is set by the CPF Board and can change. Check the current CPFIS list on the CPF Board's website before you invest.
Can I buy ES3 or G3B with my SRS account?
Yes. Both are SGX-listed securities and can generally be bought with Supplementary Retirement Scheme funds through any broker that offers SRS trading, subject to your broker's own list of eligible counters.
Do ES3 and G3B pay dividends?
ES3 pays out cash to unit holders twice a year. G3B's Dist units also pay out semi-annually, while G3B's newer Acc units reinvest the dividend inside the fund instead of paying cash.
What is the minimum investment in ES3 or G3B?
A standard board lot on SGX is 100 units, so the minimum outlay is roughly 100 times the current unit price. SGX's odd lot market also lets you buy smaller quantities, even a single unit, usually at a wider spread.
Which STI ETF has lower fees?
G3B currently has the lower total expense ratio, capped at 0.25% a year, versus ES3's 0.28% a year as of its last reported financial year.
Which STI ETF is more liquid?
ES3, by a wide margin. It holds roughly 2.4 times G3B's assets and has a longer trading history, both of which typically mean tighter spreads and easier execution for large trades.
What is the difference between G3B's Dist and Acc units?
Dist units pay dividends out to you in cash twice a year. Acc units, launched in September 2025, keep the dividends inside the fund and reinvest them automatically, so your unit value grows instead of your cash balance.
Do ES3 and G3B hold the same stocks?
Yes. Both are full replication funds tracking the same Straits Times Index, so they hold the same 30 constituent companies in essentially the same weights.
Is one STI ETF safer than the other?
Not meaningfully. Since both track the same index, they carry the same concentration and market risk. The real differences between them are cost, liquidity and structure, not underlying safety.
Can I hold ES3 or G3B in a regular savings plan?
Several brokers offer regular savings plans for both counters, letting you buy small monthly amounts without paying a full commission each time. Check your specific broker's regular savings plan counter list, since not every broker includes both.
The Bottom Line
What ES3 and G3B genuinely give you is the same thing: low cost, one-ticket exposure to Singapore's 30 largest listed companies, without having to pick individual bank or telecom stocks yourself.
That is a real and useful starting point for a Singapore-focused portfolio, and it is why both funds remain a common first purchase for new investors here.
The open question is whether ES3 will respond to G3B's accumulating class, and whether that matters enough to you to give up ES3's size and liquidity advantage today.
I do not think there is a wrong answer. The gap in outcomes between the two funds, after fees and reinvestment, is likely to stay small over most holding periods.
What I would actually do: if you already hold one of the two, I would not switch just to save a few dollars a year in fees; the brokerage cost of selling and rebuying would likely erase the savings.
If you are starting fresh with a lump sum, I would lean toward ES3 for the liquidity. If you are setting up a monthly regular savings plan and want your dividends reinvested without lifting a finger, I would look closely at G3B's Acc units before your next contribution.
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