US mutual fund firm The Vanguard Group has announced a new Hong Kong-domiciled exchange traded fund that will have exposure to both large and mid-capitalisation stocks in 11 Asian countries.

Vanguard FTSE Asia ex Japan Index ETF started trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 15 May 2013 and seeks to track the performance of the FTSE Asia Pacific ex Japan, Australia and New Zealand Index. The index is market-cap weighted and measures the performance of large and mid-cap stocks in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kore, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.

As of 31 March 2013, the index invested 766 stocks with China, 22 per cent, Korea, 19 per cent, and Hong Kong, 15 per cent.

"The [new ETF] can be appropriate for investors who want a low-cost, diversified way to invest in local stocks in countries throughout Asia. It can also be an important tool to use in conjunction with actively managed and index mutual funds in a portfolio," said Gregory Davis, chief investment officer for Vanguard Asia Pacific.

The 2008 global financial crisis pushed investors worldwide to diversify their assets. Asia, in particular, recorded 402 ETFs with $77 billion in assets as of the end of October 2012, up from 73 ETFs and $28 billion in assets in 2008.