State Street is battling back to regain market share it has lost during the past half decade to Barclays. The Boston-based firm has filed 15 new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with the SEC, including nine new products for its StreetTracks family.

The new funds are an attempt by SSgA to build its StreetTracks family into the dominate player in the ETF industry. The current leader in the category is Barclays Global Investors (BGI). The niche has also attracted the attention of industry giants Vanguard Group and Fidelity Investments.

A handful of smaller players -- including PowerShares and Rydex -- are also making a run at the business.

However, the decision by State Street to expand its StreetTracks family and marketing efforts reveal on of the problems new players in the ETF arena face. The fact that ETFs are currently based on indices leaves little room for advisors to show how they add value to investors and make differentiation a difficult task.

State Street, for example, has been forced to turn to indexes that many investors may find obscure. Among the new funds are ones that focus on specific sectors, including banking, capital markets, and insurance. It is also launching a dividend-focused product.

BGI already offers a dividend focused fund -- iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index -- which may leave the two firms battling on price rather than management ability. In that battle the player with the largest asset base typically wins and BGI already claims more than $7.3 billion in its fund. 

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