Spheria Australian Smaller Companies Fund - Active ETF (SPHX) — Review & Analysis

SPHX is Spheria Asset Management's first ASX-listed fund, with $2 million in assets as at May 2026. Spheria launched SPHX on 15 April 2026, listing a long-running unlisted Australian small-cap strategy in ETF format. The management fee is 1.10% per annum — at the upper end of fee tolerance for active management. Spheria is a small Australian boutique with a long-standing track record in the small- and micro-cap space.

To compare SPHX side-by-side with every other ETF on the ASX, see the full ETF directory.

SPHX's portfolio holds approximately 40-60 Australian small- and micro-cap stocks — typically companies outside the ASX 100 with market caps between $100M and $3B. The strategy targets structural growth opportunities and quality businesses at reasonable valuations. The unlisted Spheria Australian Smaller Companies Fund has delivered solid long-term outperformance vs the ASX Small Ordinaries Index — though Australian small-caps have been a difficult space since 2022.

SPHX pays distributions annually. The strategy carries franking credits on the Australian component of distributions. At 1.10% MER, the total expense ratio is high relative to passive small-cap ETFs like SMLL (0.45%) — Spheria's active selection needs to deliver consistent excess returns to justify the fee.

SPHX is a niche satellite for investors who want active exposure to Australian small/micro-caps at a high-conviction position size. The category has lagged broad-market Australian equity since 2022 (small-caps generally) but offers exposure to genuinely growing businesses that don't appear in VAS or A200.