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Korean Investment Manager Unveils Seven Asia-Focused ETFs
Mirae Asset Financial Group, the Seoul-based investment manager, has launched seven Asia-focussed exchange traded funds as Asian investor appetite for ETFs grows.
The funds, called the Tiger ETF series, track the S&P Pan-Asia ex JANZ LargeCap Sector Indices, and allow investors exposure to sectors including industrials, financials, energy, materials and information technology - all sectors buoyed by the steady development in Asia’s economy, said the firm in a statement.
The 10 countries covered in the ETFs are China, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
“As different sectors under or outperform at different points of the economic cycle, investors can tactically rotate their allocations in each sector to improve their overall portfolio performance,” said Roger Liu, head of ETF division,Mirae Asset.
“Our goal in launching these ETFs is to give investors a full set of options in expressing their individual investment outlook and risk appetite to capture opportunities in Asia and the global consumer market," he added.
Appetite for ETFs has soared despite the yo-yoing markets. Last year assets under management held in exchange traded products in Asia-Pacific grew at 8.3 per cent, three times that of the global average, according to the BlackRock Investment Institute in its year-end ETP Landscape Report.
The global ETP industry ended the year up 2.9 per cent in AuM, at $1.525 trillion. Net inflows totalled $151.9 billion in 2011, highlighting “the popularity of this asset class in a tumultuous year for global markets,” BlackRock said.
Much of the growth was due to the US economy and driven by US-listed products, but Asia was the real star of the show. Asia-Pacific ETP AuM grew nearly 9 per cent, product offerings surged a whopping 38.5 per cent, with 123 new products launched and only three de-listed, said BlackRock.
An ETP can be defined as a derivatively-priced security benchmarked to an index or stock which trades on a stock exchange, and is the umbrella term for vehicles including closed-end funds, exchange traded funds and exchange traded notes.