You could be right about shorters @raymon68 - however remember that State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) operates the SPDR (Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts) family of ETFs, which is one of the world's largest and most recognized ETF suites. They offer a wide range of products including US core, sector-specific, international, and fixed-income ETFs, covering 11 GICS® sectors and 22 industries.

Key SPDR ETFs Operated by State Street:

Core ETFs:

• SPY (State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust) – The first and one of the largest ETFs in the US.
• SPYM (State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF).

Sector ETFs (SPDR Select Sector):

• XLK (Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund).
• KRE (State Street SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF).
• XME (State Street SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF).
• XBI (State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF).

International/Australia Focus (SPDR AU):

• STW (SPDR S&P/ASX 200 Fund).
• SYI (SPDR MSCI Australia Select High Dividend Yield Fund).
• SFY (SPDR S&P/ASX 50 Fund).

That's just a taste of some of the ETFs they operate, and while it's true that ETF providers often do loan out their shares to shorters to make additional money, it does not ALWAYS follow that ETF providers who go "substantial" on a company are doing it primarily for shorting purposes. Most ETF providers don't engage in shorting themselves, but they DO often facilitate shorting by providing (loaning) their shares to shorters. But not everything they buy ends up in the hands of shorters. Most of it simply ends up in their ETFs.

The ones that this applies to mostly are:

1. State Street: SPDR ETFs
2. Vanguard: As the largest ETF provider in Australia, Vanguard's VAS (Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF) tracks the top 300 ASX companies (VAS being just one example of Vanguard's hundreds of ETFs).
3. BlackRock: iShares: A premier global issuer, providing numerous ASX-listed funds, such as the iShares Core S&P/ASX 200 ETF (IOZ).
4. Betashares: A top local provider managing over $46 billion in assets, including the Betashares Australia 200 ETF (A200).
5. VanEck: A global leader offering targeted Australian smart beta strategies, including the VanEck Australian Equal Weight ETF (MVW).