ASX exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are popular for many reasons, including easy exposure to international shares via our local exchange.  

US stocks are particularly popular given that the S&P 500 Index (SP: INX) has outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) for several years. 

Currency-hedging can reduce or amplify the returns for investors, and we are seeing this play out right now. 

It’s dividend season, and a closer look shows distributions from some hedged ETFs are more than triple their unhedged counterparts. Woah.  

This largely has to do with changes to the US currency.

Since early CY25, the US dollar has been weakening against a strengthening Aussie currency. 

The Aussie dollar rose from about 62 US cents in January 2025 to a four-year high of 74 US cents in May this year. 

This has helped turbocharge distributions for some currency-hedged ETFs this season. 

The US dollar has been weakening amid expectations of interest rate cuts, concerns about the economic impact of fiscal policy, and broader geopolitical and trade uncertainty.

Meanwhile, the AUD is stronger as the outlook for interest rates improves, and rising commodity prices support our terms of trade.

Strong demand for our metals and minerals, driven by the green energy transition and the build-out of artificial intelligence (AI), also supports our currency, as foreign buyers typically pay for exports in Australian dollars.

Let’s take a look at some examples of the hedging impact on ASX ETF distributions this season. 

ASX ETF distributions: Hedged vs. non-hedged 

The unhedged VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (ASX: MOAT) will pay $11.61 per unit this season. (By the way, MOAT is one of six ETFs paying a 10% dividend yield in a single payment this season.) 

Its currency-hedged counterpart, VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat (AUD Hedged) ETF (ASX: MHOT), will pay $20.54 per unit. That’s a 75% higher distribution than MOAT. 

The iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV), the market’s largest ETF tracking the S&P 500 Index (SP: .INX), is paying a distribution of 23.3 cents per unit this season. 

The currency-hedged version of IVV, iShares S&P 500 (AUD Hedged) ETF (ASX: IHVV), will pay more than 10x that amount — 270.27 cents per unit.

The Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ) will pay 90 cents per unit this season. 

The hedged version of this ETF, Betashares Nasdaq 100 Currency Hedged ETF (ASX: HNDQ), will pay 30% more at 120 cents per unit. 

iShares Global 100 ETF (ASX: IOO), which tracks the S&P Global 100 (Net) Index and is made up of 79% US stocks, is paying out 182 cents per unit this season.

The iShares Global 100 (Currency-hedged) ETF (ASX: IHOO) will pay investors 1,082 cents per unit, or almost 6x the IOO ETF. 

Global X S&P World ex Australia GARP ETF (ASX: GARP) will pay 70.76 cents per unit this season. 

Global X S&P World ex Australia GARP (Currency Hedged) ETF (ASX: GHRP) will pay almost 4x that amount at 269.5 cents per unit. 

Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS), which invests in 1,500 stocks in developed nations outside Australia, and has a 77% US exposure, will pay 81.54 cents per unit. 

Its currency-hedged counterpart, Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares (Hedged) ETF (ASX: VGAD), will pay more than triple that amount at 293.5 cents per unit. 

Final distributions confirmed

ETF providers have confirmed their final distribution amounts for this season. 

If you own Vanguard ETFs, see this season’s final distributions here.

Interested in VanEck ETFs? View final distributions here.

If you own Betashares ETFs, see final distributions here.

If you’re invested in iShares ETFs, see final distributions here.

Invested in Global X ETFs? Find out final distributions here.

The post The currency-hedged ASX ETFs magnifying dividends by up to 10x this season appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has positions in VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF, Vaneck Morningstar Wide Moat (Aud Hedged) Etf, Vanguard Msci Index International Shares ETF, and iShares S&P 500 Aud Hedged ETF. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF and iShares S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF – Currency Hedged, VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF, Vanguard Msci Index International Shares ETF, and iShares S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) real estate stock Aspen Group Ltd (ASX: APZ) is marching higher today.

Aspen Group shares closed yesterday trading for $5.18. During the Friday lunch hour, shares are changing hands for $5.24 apiece, up 1.2%.  

For some context, the ASX 300 is up 1.2% at this same time as well.

Taking a step back, however, Apen Group shares have strongly outperformed the 2.8% 12-month gains delivered by the benchmark index. 

Indeed, if we add in the 11 cents per share in partly-franked dividends the ASX 300 real estate stock has paid out over the past year, then the accumulated value of Aspen shares has surged 40.1% in 12 months.

And according to Joe Wright, deputy portfolio manager on the Airlie Australian Share Fund, the company is well-positioned to keep outperforming in the year ahead.  

Here’s why.

ASX 300 real estate stock in the sweet spot

“We love residential property developer and operator Aspen Group,” Wright said (quoted by The Australian Financial Review).

“There continues to be a huge undersupply of affordable housing in Australia, which is exactly the area that Aspen looks to serve,” he added.

Summing up his bullish outlook on the ASX 300 real estate stock, Wright concluded:

Joint chief executives John Carter and David Dixon are experienced operators with a fantastic track record of buying land well and building houses that are reasonably priced and people want to live in.

It means there is a lot of demand, and that’s led to significant earnings growth and returns which we expect to continue over the next five years.

What’s the latest from Aspen Group?

Aspen released its Q3 FY 2026 update on 9 April, with management noting that the company is “well on track to achieve earnings guidance for FY26 and FY27”.

As for that earnings growth Wright mentioned above, for the nine months to 31 March the ASX 300 real estate stock reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $43.1 million. That’s up 45% from the same nine-month period in FY 2025. 

Management maintained full year FY 2026 EBITDA guidance of $53.3 million.

Also growing strongly was the company’s realised development profit, which leapt 153% year on year to $19 million in the first nine months of this financial year. 

Aspen Group management noted, “By the end of March, we achieved 88% of development profit guidance [of $21.5 million] for FY26, and we expect to achieve 100% in May.”

The post Up 40%. Why this surging ASX 300 real estate stock is tipped to keep outperforming appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Talga Group Ltd (ASX: TLG) shares are having one of their best sessions in months on Friday.

At the time of writing, the ASX battery materials stock is up 28.57% to an intraday high of 27 cents. 

The rally comes after a tough run for shareholders. Talga shares are still down 28% in 2026 and 36% over the past 12 months. 

But investors finally have something to cheer about. 

After years of work on its battery anode plans, Talga has given investors a sign that commercial progress is finally starting to show. 

Here’s what the company announced. 

First commercial deliveries begin

According to the release, Talga has started commercial deliveries of its flagship battery graphite anode product, Talnode-C, to Nyobolt. 

Nyobolt is a battery technology company focused on ultra-fast charging batteries, which are being developed for areas such as heavy-duty vehicles, mining equipment, and industrial robotics. 

The first shipment was delivered from Talga’s EVA demonstration plant in Lulea, Sweden, under the binding 3,000-tonne offtake agreement announced in May last year. 

While the early volumes aren’t huge, the update is still significant for the company. It means Talga has moved from testing and customer qualification work to commercial sales under a binding offtake agreement. 

The balance of the 3,000-tonne offtake is expected to come from Talga’s planned commercial-scale anode plant in the same area. Construction is targeted to start in 2027, although this still depends on a final investment decision.

A closer look at Nyobolt

Nyobolt is working on batteries that can charge very quickly and handle heavy use. 

Talga said the company recently completed a Series C capital raise at a US$1 billion valuation. So, clearly there’s some serious money behind what it is trying to build. 

Nyobolt advised that it has already demonstrated charging from 10% to 80% in under 5 minutes.

With that kind of speed, the batteries could be valuable in markets where downtime can cost operators money.

And that is why Nyobolt is targeting heavy-duty commercial vehicles, trucks, mining equipment, and autonomous warehouse robots.

These are all areas where battery performance, charging speed, and reliability need to hold up.

Talga also pointed to demand beyond passenger electric vehicles. This includes potential uses in industrial drones, hybrid heavy-duty vehicles, defence hardware, AI data centre power solutions, and backup power systems.

Foolish Takeaway

This update should give Talga shares more support after a brutal start to the year.

Talga has talked up its battery anode opportunity for years, making these first commercial sales a welcome milestone for investors. 

Furthermore, management said it is in advanced talks with offtake parties and new customers are nearing final qualification and onboarding.

If more deals follow, the share price could keep powering higher.

 

The post Guess which ASX stock is rocketing almost 30% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.