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The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) and the Osaka Securities Exchange Co., Ltd. (OSE), the premier Japanese derivatives and securities exchange, today announced that the first domestic exchange-traded fund (ETF) based on the NASDAQ-100 Index® will soon be available to Japanese investors. The OSE has approved the listing of the NEXT FUNDS NASDAQ-100® EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (OSE:1545) on OSE's exchange-traded fund market. Nomura Asset Management Co., Ltd., one of Japan's largest asset management companies and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nomura Holdings, Inc., is the sponsor of the ETF.
The NEXT FUNDS NASDAQ-100 EXCHANGE TRADED FUND gives investors in Japan, which has the world's second largest economy, the ability to invest in 100 of the largest and most innovative global non-financial securities listed on NASDAQ - including Apple, Intel, Google and Microsoft.
"We are honored to have the NEXT FUNDS NASDAQ-100 EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, linked to one of the world's largest growth indexes, to be listed on OSE's market," said Michio Yoneda, President and CEO of OSE.
"The introduction of the NEXT FUNDS NASDAQ-100 EXCHANGE TRADED FUND gives retail and institutional investors in Japan access for the first time to a domestic product that tracks 100 of the world's most dynamic large-capitalization growth companies," said NASDAQ OMX Executive Vice President John Jacobs. "We look forward to continuing to work with the OSE and Nomura Asset Management as we explore other opportunities to serve investors in Japan."
NASDAQ OMX and OSE signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to form a strategic partnership in February 2009. The partnership facilitates cooperation and potential growth opportunities among both exchanges in various areas. As a result of this partnership, both exchanges introduced the NEXT FUNDS NASDAQ-100® EXCHANGE TRADED FUND in Japan.
The listing ceremony will be held at JASDAQ Plaza in Tokyo on the day of the listing, August 16th.
