This batch includes Asia’s first inverse ETF, the S&P 500 Short ETF. This is an ETF on the S&P 500 Short Index which tracks the S&P 500 Index, but in the opposite direction. Investors who expect the S&P 500 Index to fall can buy this ETF, as it is based on the Short Index which will rise when the main index falls.
Details of the four ETFs are:
| db x-trackers – Funds based on | Management Fee p.a. | Fund Currency | Listing Currency | SGX Symbol | ISIN |
| S&P 500 Short ETF | 0.50% | USD | USD | HD6 | LU0322251520 |
| MSCI Taiwan TRN Index ETF | 0.65% | USD | USD | HD7 | LU0292109187 |
| FTSE/Xinhua China 25 ETF | 0.6% | USD | USD | HD8 | LU0292109856 |
| S&P CNX Nifty ETF | 0.85% | USD | USD | HE0 | LU0292109690 |
“With the listing of the ETFs in Singapore, and the introduction of more ETFs covering major country, regional, as well as short and leveraged products in Singapore and Asia expected shortly, Deutsche Bank aims to become a leading provider of ETFs in Asia,” said Mr Thorsten Michalik, Global Head of db x-trackers Exchange Traded Funds, Deutsche Bank. “We are excited to offer our db x-trackers ETF products to investors through Singapore, and provide them with a simple, transparent and cost efficient way to diversify assets.”
“A short ETF, especially in today’s volatile environment, can help investors better manage their investment risk and at the same time making it possible to generate positive returns, without having to use derivatives,” he added.
“SGX is pleased to welcome Deutsche Bank, one of Europe’s fastest-growing ETF issuers. The launch of Asia’s first inverse ETF on our Exchange signals our ongoing commitment to increasing the breadth and depth of our products, allowing investors to capitalise on all market conditions. Furthermore, we are highly committed to our comprehensive issuer support programme that not only helps issuers manage the listing process in Singapore, but also promotes their ETFs to market participants and educates retail investors. We do this through initiatives such as supporting brokers in their worthy programme of publishing ETF wealth allocation reports, and conducting seminars that reach out directly to our CDP1 investor base,” said Mr Andrew Ler, Senior Vice President & Head, Private Investors of SGX.
Deutsche Bank began offering innovative ETF products to European investors in January 2007. Over the past two years, the company has expanded its offerings in Europe from eight to more than 100 products and with more than 18 billion Euros under management. db x-trackers is the fastest growing ETF provider in Europe. Deutsche Bank ranks third in Europe and fifth globally among ETF providers.
The Bank is continuing its successful and innovative tradition by bringing to Singapore Asia’s first-ever ETF listing on a short index, as well as more ETFs in future.
According to Mr Michalik, assets under management in the Asian ETF market are expected to exceed US$85 billion by the end of 2010.
With the launch of these four ETFs, SGX will have a total of 29 ETFs by end-February 2009, covering mainly Asian equity markets such as Singapore, India, Greater China, ASEAN, Korea and Japan as well as commodities, including gold.
1 CDP stands for The Central Depository (Pte) Ltd, SGX’s wholly-owned subsidiary. CDP provides depository, clearing and book-entry settlement services for the Singapore stock market. As a depository, CDP holds the shares on behalf of investors in CDP securities accounts. CDP also clears and settles all transactions in the stock market through its book-entry settlement system.
