The DBS Singapore STI ETF seeks to track the performance of the Straits Times Index (STI), which constitutes 30 of the largest and most liquid companies in Singapore. The ETF serves investors looking for a medium-term investment horizon, banking on the steadfastness of Singapore’s financial foundation.
Ms Deborah Ho, CEO of DBSAM, said, “It is in challenging times like these that investors should focus their attention on the true nature of long-term wealth management – low-cost, effective and liquid access to opportunities for compounding growth in investments. SGX and DBSAM’s endeavour will provide precisely such ETF products to Asian investors buying Asia, as well as to global investors who wish to buy into Asia.”
The Initial Offer Period of the DBS Singapore STI ETF is from 12 to 18 February 2009. Members of the public can apply for the shares through DBS and POSB ATMs or DBS Vickers Securities. Investors can trade the DBS Singapore STI ETF shares through their brokers.
The launch follows an MOU between DBSAM and SGX with the intention of developing a suite of ETF products dealing with a variety of Asian stock market indices and their underlying assets. The alliance aims to establish Singapore as Asia’s regional investment and wealth-management gateway by jointly developing, promoting and distributing SGX-listed ETF products.
“We are proud and excited to be working closely with SGX to further develop Singapore’s capabilities in asset, capital and financial risk management. Both DBS and SGX are anchors in the regional capital markets, and we intend to bring our full resources to provide transparent and effective access products for both professional and retail investors,” added Ms Ho.
“SGX is pleased that DBSAM has launched an ETF on the STI, and to sign an MOU with them. The MOU signals our commitment to working with a local asset manager on product innovation in developing new types of ETFs that will cater to the local market. These include ETFs on the FTSE ST Index Series, as well as those that are suitable for retirement or regular savings. The new products will leverage the strengths of SGX and DBS’ distribution channels in the region,” said Mr Chew Sutat, SGX Executive Vice President & Head, Market Development.
ETFs are open-ended investment funds listed and traded intra-day on a stock exchange. They aim to track the performance of an index and provide access to a wide variety of markets and asset classes.
ETFs have no sales fee and generally charge less than 1% for management fees, enabling investors to obtain cost-efficient exposure to a diversified portfolio of securities through a single transaction.
With the launch of this ETF, SGX has 25 ETFs covering mainly Asian equity markets such as Singapore, India, Greater China, ASEAN, Korea and Japan as well as commodities, including gold.
Details of the DBS Singapore STI ETF
Initial Offering Period | 12 – 18 February 2009, 12 noon |
Listing Date | 25 February 2009 |
Trading Name | DBS Singapore STI ETF |
Board Lot | 100 units |
Trading Currency | SGD |
SGX Trading Code | DBS STI ETF 100 |
Bloomberg Fund Ticker | DBSSTI SP |
Benchmark | STI Index |
Bloomberg Index Ticker | FSSTI Index |
STI Top 10 Constituents
Rank | Constituent | Index Weight (%) |
1 | Singapore Telecommunications Ltd | 14.87 |
2 | DBS Group Holdings Ltd | 11.08 |
3 | United Overseas Bank Ltd | 9.87 |
4 | Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd | 8.73 |
5 | Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd | 5.38 |
6 | Singapore Airlines Ltd | 4.88 |
7 | Singapore Exchange Ltd | 4.02 |
8 | Hong Kong Land Holdings Ltd | 3.98 |
9 | CapitaLand Ltd | 3.86 |
10 | Keppel Corp | 3.59 |
70.26% |
Index is reviewed on a semi-annual basis.