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Vanguard launches Government Bond Exchange Traded Fund
April 4, 2012--Vanguard today announced its plans to launch the Vanguard Australian Government Bond Index Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), with ASX ticker code VGB.
Vanguard has applied for VGB to be quoted for trading on the ASX by the end of the month* as the newest addition to Vanguard’s Australian ETF line-up. Complementing Vanguard’s current ETF range of seven ETFs available to Australian investors, advisers and institutions, this new product also means that Vanguard now offers ETFs in all of the major asset classes.
This new ETF is a share class of an existing Vanguard index fund, the Vanguard Australian Government Bond Index Fund, which has grown to over $300 million in assets since its inception in December 2008.
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Source: Vanguard
TSE-ETF/ETN Monthly Report for March 2012
April 4, 2012--Continuing from the previous month, TSE ETFs' trading value, particularly that of TOPIX and Nikkei 225 based ETFs is on the rise.
Trading value in the TSE-listed ETFs has risen by 32.55% in March, particularly ETFs benchmarked against TOPIX and Nikkei 225 show strong performance.
Nomura's "TOPIX Exchange Traded Fund" (1306) is March's top performer in terms of trading volume and is outperforming Nikko's Nikkei 225 ETF (1330) trading volume for the first time since January 2011.
view the TSE ETF/ETN Monthly Report for March 2012
Source: Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE)
TSE-Base prices and daily price limits for newly listing ETFs
April 4, 2012--The base price, etc. of TOPIX Bull 2x ETF (Code: 1568) and TOPIX Bear -1x ETF (Code: 1569), which are scheduled for initial listing tomorrow (April 5),
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Source: Tokyo Stock Exchange
SEC finishing rules on traded funds- Philippines
April 3, 2012--THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is on track in coming out with the rules on listing exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the Philippines in the second half of the year despite legal obstacles.
At the sidelines of the San Miguel Brewery Inc. listing ceremony, SEC Commissioner Juanita Cueto told reporters there are some limitations in the country’s “dated laws,” referring to the Investment Company Act, which governs investment firms, that stand in the way of the creation and listing of ETFs.
"Like most old laws, they didn’t really contemplate ETFs. There wasn’t any product like that during the time it was enacted," she said.
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Source: The Manilla Times
China to expand foreign investment quota to $80 bln
April 3, 2012--China said on Tuesday it will raise the total quota for its qualified foreign institutional investor scheme (QFII), a main channel for foreign investment in Chinese securities, by $50 billion to $80 billion, as the current programme nears its limit.
China will also raise the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor scheme (RQFII), which allows investors to buy mainland securities using offshore yuan, by 50 billion yuan, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said in a statement posted on its website.
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Source: Reuters
DB-Equity Research-Asia-Pac ETF Market Weekly Review: With AUM around $100bn, ETPs had outflows of $0.7bn in March
April 3, 2012--Market Review
The Asian Pacific region had mixed markets last week. In all, Japan (Nikkei 225) gained 0.72%, Korea (KOSPI2) dropped by 0.51%, China (CSI 300) declined by 3.84%, Hong Kong (HSI) fell by 0.55%, Singapore (FSSTI) increased by 0.68%, and Australia (S&P/ASX 200) advanced by 1.52% over the previous week.
New ETP launches
Last week, two new products were launched in the Asia-Pacific ETP market. Nikko Asset Management listed one Fixed Income ETF on Tokyo Stock Exchange tracking Barclays Capital Advanced Emerging Markets Risk Controlled 10% USD ER Index in JPY equivalent. Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund listed one gold ETF on National Stock Exchange (India). (See Figure 5 for further details.)
ETP Monthly Flows
Asia-Pacific ETP market recorded monthly cash outflows of $664m for the month of March bringing YTD cash flows to -$385m. Prior to that, Asia-Pacific region recorded monthly flows of $1.4bn and -$1.1bn for January and February respectively. From a market perspective, ETPs in South Korea led the outflows with $611m, followed by Taiwan with $239m and Japan with $152m, while Hong Kong and Australia witnessed inflows of $157m and $109m respectively. Total monthly outflows were primarily contributed by Equity ETFs with $1bn of outflows, partially offset by $271m of inflows in Fixed Income ETFs. Within Equity products, Emerging Country and Asia Pac Developed Country ETFs recorded outflows of $637m and $380m respectively, while sector ETFs had inflows of $151m.
Turnover Review
Asia-Pacific ETP turnover totaled $4.8bn for last week, 6.7% down from the previous week’s total. South Korea continues to be on top of the turnover ranking with $1.6bn, followed by China ($1.2bn), Hong Kong ($0.9bn), Japan ($0.7bn), and Taiwan ($0.1bn). Among Equity ETFs, Emerging Country, Asia Pac Developed Country, Leveraged Strategy, and Short Strategy ETFs had total turnover of $2.3bn, $1bn, $0.8bn and $0.3bn respectively. Under the Commodity asset class, turnover in Gold ETPs totaled $101m.
Assets Under Management Review
Last week, Asia-Pacific ETP AUM ended at $99.5bn. On a year to date basis, Asia-Pacific ETP market is up by $8bn or 8.8% above last year’s closing.
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Source: Source: Deutsche Bank - Equity Research - Asia Pacific
Strengthening Australia's Equity Capital Markets
April 3, 2012--On 2 April ASX released Strengthening Australia's equity capital markets: ASX proposals and consultation setting out proposals to facilitate capital raising for mid to small cap companies and updating ASX's admission requirements.
The package is the first phase of listing initiatives ASX is rolling out in 2012 to strengthen Australia’s equity capital markets.
The key elements of the paper are:
Increasing the capital raising limit for mid to small caps from 15% to 25%. 'Mid to small caps' means listed entities with a market capitalisation of $300 million or less. There are more than 1,600 of these companies listed on ASX, and more than half are from the resources sector and based in Western Australia.
Updated admission requirements:
Increasing the net tangible assets test from $2 million to a minimum of $4 million; and
Changing the spread test so that there are three different levels at which acceptable shareholder spread can be achieved.
view the Strengthening Australia's Equity Capital Markets: ASX Proposals and Consultation
Source: ASX
Global businesses warn India over tax plan
April 2, 2012--International trade groups representing more than 250 000 companies have warned Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that new taxation proposals by his government have led foreign businesses to reconsider their investments.
India’s federal budget last month outlined proposals that would allow authorities to make retroactive tax claims on overseas deals and bring in new anti-tax-avoidance measures, moves that have been criticised for further denting investor sentiment towards India.
SGX securities market starts dual currency trading
For the first quarter of 2012, in terms of value traded (USD & SGD), HPHT accounted for 1.8% of the market’s Securities Daily Average Value (SDAV). Today, it accounted for more than 3% of market turnover, suggesting that liquidity may have improved. In terms of Daily Average Volume (DAV), the S$ counter of HPHT is 17% of its total turnover.
Dual currency trading benefits retail investors by making HPHT more accessible in Singapore dollar, and cheaper without incurring the cost of foreign exchange conversions. The flexibility of dual currency trading is also expected to appeal to investors seeking Singapore dollar priced assets with exposure to regional growth.
read more SSgA targets Asia growth via Australia bonds read more
Source: FIN24
April 2, 2012--Singapore Exchange's (SGX) securities market today successfully began dual currency trading.
Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (HPHT), the world's first publicly traded container port business trust, is the first listed security to launch dual currency units on SGX by adding a S$ counter to their US$ counter.
It saw healthy trading of its S$ counter, totalling S$4.13 million in its first day of trading. Its US$ counter traded US$16.01 million.
Source: Singapore Exchange (SGX)
April 2, 2012--State Street Global Advisors is moving to grow its range of exchange traded funds for the Asia Pacific region with a focus on Australia's bond market and Asian fixed income opportunities.
Scott Ebner, London-based head of global ETF product development at SSgA, says Asia Pacific represents a relatively small portion of the overall ETF investment landscape, which is dominated by markets in the US and Europe.
Source: FT.com