HKEx Welcomes First RQFII ETF From An Offshore Fund Manager

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) welcomes today’s listing of the Hang Seng China A Industry Top Index Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), the world’s first Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) ETF from a fund manager based outside Mainland China. 

Hong Kong-based Hang Seng Investment Management Limited’s Hang Seng China A Industry Top Index ETF is Hong Kong’s 10th RQFII ETF and the newest of the 115 ETFs listed at HKEx.

The new ETF’s underlying index reflects the performance of A shares of leading Mainland companies in each of the 11 industries under the Hang Seng Industry Classification System.  The ETF has a Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) counter and a Renminbi (RMB) counter so investors can buy units in either currency.  

“Today’s listing is a positive development for Hong Kong’s ETF market as RQFII ETFs are now being issued by a wider range of fund managers,” said Romnesh Lamba, HKEx’s Co-Head of Global Markets.  “HKEx is the first market with an RQFII ETF launched solely by an offshore fund manager and as a result we anticipate that other international fund managers will use our platform for their initial launch of RQFII ETFs.”

ETF trading at HKEx has been on the rise this year, with average daily turnover for January to October up 123 per cent from the same period last year, led by Mainland A-share ETFs.

Top 10 ETFs at HKEx by HKD Turnover Value (Jan-Oct 2013)  

* A-share ETF
^# RQFII ETF
4-digit stock codes = HKD counters
5-digit stock codes = RMB counters

Additional information on RQFII ETFs and other ETFs listed in Hong Kong is available on the HKEx website.