With Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba scheduled to deliver one of the most widely anticipated initial public offerings in years on the New York Stock Exchange Friday, talk is increasing regarding which exchange traded funds will and will not eventually hold the stock.
Home to almost $520 million in assets under management, the First Trust US IPO Index Fund (NYSEArca: FPX) would appear to be a logical destination for shares of Alibaba. After all, Alibaba is a new stock and expected to be a hot one at that. However, FPX will not own the stock.
FPX’s Chicago-based index provider, IPOX Schuster LLC, confirmed to ETF Trends that due to Alibaba’s foreign domicile, the company will not be included in the IPOX-100 U.S. Index, FPX’s underlying index.
IPOX Schuster is not the first index provider to raise the issue of Alibaba’s foreign domicile, which includes a Cayman Islands incorporation. Earlier this year, MSCI raised the same issue.
“MSCI has analyzed the country classification of Alibaba Group Holding. Based on current information, the company will be incorporated in Cayman Islands, it will file 20-F only and it will list in the US only, through American Depositary Shares (ADS). Consequently, based on the above and as per the Appendix III of the MSCI GIMI Methodology Book, the company is not eligible for inclusion in the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes (GIMI),” the index provider previously said. [Alibaba Could Miss Out on MSCI ETFs]
However, it has since been revealed that MSCI, index provider well-known ETFs such as the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: EEM) and the iShares MSCI China ETF (NYSEArca: MCHI), is considering index rules changes that could allow for Alibaba to join its indices in March 2015. [MSCI Indices Could Add Alibaba]